


The Eros Of Her Ways

by Mooncatx



Series: Immortal Blood [1]
Category: Gargoyles (TV)
Genre: Blood and Torture, Cybernetics, Dark, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Implied/Referenced Incest, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kidnapping, Love Potion/Spell, Multi, Other, Pagan Gods, Rape Aftermath, Rape Recovery, Rape/Non-con Elements, Threats of Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 13:43:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 55,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17225123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mooncatx/pseuds/Mooncatx
Summary: Demona will have her revenge, even if she must sacrifice herself to it.  However this is not exactly how she meant to have her revenge, as the machinations of Oberon's Children weave a web of power plays and lust that will ensnare not only her enemies and herself, but the very fate of the world.A tale of Gods, Gargoyles, and Dark Passions...Originally published in the Adult Gargoyles Fan Fiction website - I'm reposting my past works on the Archive .





	The Eros Of Her Ways

  ** **The Eros of Her Ways** **

_**by Mooncatx the Bliss Crimson** _

 

**PREVIOUSLY ON GARGOYLES**

 

_The Weird Sisters : "Oberon's law magically forbids us from directly interferring in human events"_  
_The Archmage : "The law that cannot be broken can surely be bent."_  
_The Weird Sisters : "This is true."_

-Avalon

 

_Lord Oberon : "Fox has turned out to be regrettably human, and thus we cannot interfer with her life. However, the baby is still of our blood. And if it pleases you to take him, you have my permission."_

_*Fox blasts Lord Oberon with a bolt of magic*_

_Goliath : "This changes everything!"_

\- The Gathering

 

_**"Though she now escape you, she soon will follow; though she take not gifts from you,** _  
_**she will give them: though she love not, yet she will surely love you even unwilling."** _  
_**-Invocation to Aphrodite** _

**PROLOGUE:**  
*****************

Oberon's body arched, his cry of passion echoing through the secluded forest glade. The milk pale female beneath him bucked in response to her lord's powerful rut. Head thrashing, her golden hair whipped at both their nude bodies, sparks of power flaring briefly with each strike of a golden strand against their sweat slick, glistening skin. Each thrust went deeper than the last, till the Ruler of Avalon peaked in his pleasure...

***

Bruno's breath whuffed through his ski mask in sheer disgust as he stared at the ruined remains of the papyrus.. The brittle material had crumbled in his grasp, leaving him cursing a blue streak.. His partner had already gotten the other items stowed in the carrysack and was headed for the door. Bruno cast about frantically for an a substitute. Another display immediately caught his eye. One ancient Greek poet was the same as the other, right? Bruno didn't argue the difference, but grabbed the nearest papyrus roll from the other display...

***

Elisa slouched at her desk, frowning at the latest robbery report. Pushing the fall of her dark hair back from her face, she tried to ignore the raised voices coming from the Captain's office.

The papers had already picked up the story, and Maria Chavez was calling Matt Bluestone on the carpet for talking to the press. The new female reporter for THE DAILY TATTLER had led him to believe she was part of the Museum staff, and coaxed a few quotes from Elisa's partner before he'd caught on. Now the evening edition had Bluestone's picture as the chief investigator by the headline:

**New York Police Hunt Antiquities Thieves,**  
**Gargoyles Expert Matt Bluestone Investigates**

_Police are still searching for clues after thieves stole valuable Greek Artifacts from the Metro Museum._

_A man walked into the museum five minutes before closing time on Friday night, pointed a submachine gun at an guard and stood watch while two accomplices already inside snatched the items from their display. The robbers sped away in a van parked by the museum. Police found the van, but not the thieves or the artifacts, which museum officials say were collectively insured for 13 million dollars._

_"We're working with witness accounts and technical evidence, but there is no lead pointing to any certain direction," police spokesman and expert on gargoyles, Matt Bluestone said, "We're still dependent on getting information from ... anyone who might have seen anything."_

_The robbers spoke English, he said, and police were presuming they were still in the country. The international police agency Interpol was notified anyway, he said. Of the artifacts he added, "In these cases it's normal that the ... robbers stash them away for a while."_

_On loan to the Museum, the artifacts were: a small lyre, (an ancient musical insturment), papyrus containing fragments of lyric love poetry, and a small statuette, a nude female figure on a shell shaped pedestal. These items had been reliably dated to 600 b.c._

_"It's a great loss to the museum," acting museum director Tori Gunn said. "The papyrus, supposedly written in the hand of Alcaeus."_

_The Metro Museum's collections contain about 1500 artifacts from this period of Greco Roman history, which includes several valuable sculptures. It is assumed these three items were taken while others, just as valuable were ignored, was because these were small, and easy to transport. Art experts and police said it will be hard to sell artifacts because buyers and auction houses will either know, or demand proof of, the item''s origins. Tom Gates, a noted archeologist and professor at NYU, said there is no open market for the artifacts and "the whole robbery is absurd."_

_"The items will eventually return to the museum," Gates claims. " No collector wants to buy something that you can't show."_

_However, it seems the New York Police Department feels otherwise._

_"Either someone ordered those artifacts, some millionaire who wants to peek at them in his safe, or the thieves will try and blackmail the museum" by demanding a ransom for their safe return, Bluestone conjectured, "We'll be seeking every avenue of investigation."_

_***_

Matt Bluestone was still wincing as he returned to his desk, his hang dog expression far from the snappy confidence of his newspaper picture.

"Hey Matt, don't take it so hard." Elisa walked over and laid a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, "That could have happened to anybody. That blonde had me fooled too, until the Museum Curator asked who she was."

"Yeah, but you aren't the one who got pumped for information, and his picture plastered on the front page." her partner's tone was as glum as his face.

"That's because I don't volunteer any information to anyone unless it's absolutely necessary. Remember Matt, a good cop trusts no one." Elisa advised a grin taking the sting out of her lecture, "Think of it this way, it looks like an uncomplicated snatch and grab. We'll put pressure on the local fences, and who knows, we might get lucky. Right now our case load is pretty thin, thanks to the help from our *friends*, so we can give this robbery our full attention for now."

Matt's gaze sharpened as he focused on Elisa's emphasis on the word 'friends'. He knew she was referring to Goliath and his gargoyle clan, who'd helped out Elisa so many times before.

"Do you think our _friends_ might be able to help with this case?" Bluestone asked thoughtfully.

Elisa shook her head, sorry to disappoint her partner, "Don't think so. They're great for helping out when a crime's in progress, or apprehending a perp running from the scene... but after the fact? Much as I appreciate their enthusiasm for protecting the city, they are not exactly up to an ongoing police investigation. This is going to be old fashioned legwork my friend. I think this might be one case without any gargoyle involvement."

***

  
**FOUR WEEKS LATER...**

 

Demona laid out the objects on the carefully prepared white marble slab that acted as her alter tonight. Small brass bowls filled with sea salt held burning mixtures of Frankincense and Myrrh, scenting the air with bitter fragrance. A glass pitcher of golden honey mead stood ready for pouring in offering around the small statuette of the goddess. Fresh quince fruits were laid at the statue's feet.

No electric lights, no candles... only the strong light of a full moon pouring through the glass faced wall illuminated the CEO's office at Nightstone Unlimited... and the lush, bared curves of it's sole occupant. The golden head band that usually held her tousled, dark red hair away from her face was set aside, along with the brief halter and loin cloth she usually wore. Her arm bracelet, and her anklet were removed as well. The only ornament Demona wore was the silver moonlight spilled across her oiled and gleaming azure skin.

Normally Demona would not compromise her identity as Dominique Destine, but this room had the perfect lunar exposure. The vengence she had planned for those who had earned her wrath was *worth* the use of her own human identity's office.

It was finally the fourth day of the month. She'd had to wait weeks since the human lackeys she'd hired had procured the final items necessary. Weeks before she could truly show Goliath that no human was to be trusted. Now that all was in place at the proper time, let him experience first hand the heart rending pain when his pretty Elisa betrayed him. His human mate with his human ally.

Demona shivered in rage, remembering the scene of Goliath and Elisa on a remote rooftop, locked together in a passionate embrace. They had not seen her, and she'd been too shocked by their intimate pose to do more than fly away on unsteady wings. Afterwards she'd channeled the fierce disgust she felt at the unnatural coupling of gargoyle and human into a search for a spell that would destroy Goliath's trust in his mate forever. It had taken days of feverish searching through tomes so old they all but crumbled at her touch. But she'd finally found it. The *perfect* revenge.

Goliath had always blamed her hatred of humans as the cause for all her sorrows. Tonight, she'd prove to him that his love for humans would be the same for him.

Like Helen of Troy, his Elisa would bring down an empire.

Demona gave a dark, throaty laugh. The beauty part was that not only Goliath and Elisa would be punished, but another thorn in her side would be eliminated as well. All with no blood shed on her own talons. It would be a subtle, sneaky vengence. One they could not defend against, nor attribute to her. Hah...! She grinned fiercely, amused to think of what it would take for them to even suspect. Perhaps, when dust had settled, she might step forward and claim responsibility... perhaps not. Angela cared so for her father and that... woman. Demona was reluctant to add yet another wedge between herself and her daughter.

Shaking out her untamed riot of spiky curls, Demona focused on the ritual at hand. It was not so much a spell, as and invocation. A bargaining of sorts. But to gain the results she desired, things had to be exactly right.

It had been a stroke of good fortune that an original fragment of Alcaeus' work had been mentioned in the Patron's Newsletter she received from the Metro Museum. Sometimes being the well known and wealthy Dominique Destine had it's hidden advantages. Her company often donated for the upkeep of various charities... including that museum.

Alcaeus's work was especially well suited as a spell component for the effect she wanted. Though... Demona frowned at the fragile papyrus... She wasn't overly familiar with ancient Greek poetry, but the tone of these words seemed different than the other works she vaguely remembered reading. It had been his rich description of the adulterous, love spelled Helen that had led her to choose his work.

**_. . and fluttered the heart of Argive Helen, in her breast. Maddened with passion for the man from Troy, the traitor-guest. She followed him over the sea in his ship leaving her child at home and her husband's richly covered bed. Her heart persuaded by desire..._ **

Demona took a deep breath and dispelled her doubts. No matter. Even if she was unfamiliar with *this* piece of work, it relationship to the same author would work just as well. As all pieces of work from the same artist were one, so even would this salvaged scrap of poetry harken to the other. And this poem's wording would fit her intent just as well. Her contacts in the museum had authenticated the papyrus as the original work of Alcaeus. All would proceed according to plan.

Taking up the small golden lyre, Demona stroked it's strings experimentally. The tone, for something so ancient, was surprisingly sweet. Her talons plucked with deceptive gentleness as she read aloud. Speaking slowly, for the faded Greek words on the papyrus was a torturously old dialect to translate...

_**"Throned in splendour, deathless, O Aphrodite, child of Zeus, charm fashioner,** _  
_**I entreat you not with griefs and bitterness to break my spirit, O goddess:** _  
_**Standing by me rather, if once before now far away you heard, when I called upon you, left your father's dwelling place and descended,** _  
_**yoking the golden chariot to sparrows, who fairly drew you down in speed aslant the black world,** _  
_**the bright air trembling at the heart to the pulse of countless fluttering wingbeats."** _

Though the office was carefully climate controlled, and no window or door stood open, a wind rushed through the room. The small eddies of smoke from the burning incense stretched out thinly, silver grey threads.

_" **Swiftly then they came, and you, blessed lady, smiling on me out of immortal beauty,**_  
_**asked me what affliction was on me, why I called thus upon you,** _  
_**what beyond all else I would have befall my tortured heart:** _  
_**"Whom then would you have Persuasion force to serve desire in your heart?"** _

There was the sound like the rapid beating of many tiny wings. Demona shivered as the smoke thickened, the moonlight turning the unnatural mist into a glimmering web of silver light... She continued to play the lyre, and to chant out the final words...

_**"In such guise come even again and set me free from doubt and sorrow;** _  
_**accomplish all those things my heart desires to be done; appear and stand at my shoulder."** _

 

_"Who is it, my sweet one, that has hurt you?"_

Demona started as a melodic, female voice spoke beside her. Turning around slowly, she could see no one else with her in the silver fog. Laughter, sweet and slightly mocking echoed through the office.

_"Why have you summoned me, my pretty gargoyle?"_

Demona felt a prickle that ran from the base of her quietly lashing tail, to the nape of her neck. It was as though the speaker were standing right behind her, leaning over her shoulder to breath softly in her ear. She did not like the casual familiarity the speaker took. Demona was not used to endearments from summoned spirits.

_"Whose... hearts... do you seek to entwine?"_

She'd been expecting something like this, but still the disembodied voice disturbed her. Demona prided herself on her stength. But a voice in the dark had her trembling like a hatchling. She did not allow her voice to tremble though, as she spoke the names.

"Xanatos and Elisa Maza!"

_"Two? Well then, two it shall be. Set the limits for those who will be subject to the bonds of your passion"_

Demona frowned at the mirth bubbling in the voice. She'd heard it's like before. But she would not be distracted by petty details when her revenge was so close at hand.

"Always for all I care! As long as they cannot deny their passion for each other, and must sate their lust well and often."

_"If that is your will...?"_

The voice trailed off, laughing, waiting for the gargoyle's response.

"It is!"

_"And you accept the ancient bargain? Gift for gift? The price of flesh that I demand?"_

"I do."

Demona's voice was resolute. She had paid greater coin for less over the millennia. From what she had gleaned from the manuscripts she'd read, it would be sexual favors of some sort. But whatever degradation of body this spirit commanded she was prepared to meet. A few distasteful couplings was small price for the satisfaction seeing Elisa Maza and David Xanatos tied together in sexual bondage for eternity. Goliath would not share his mate with other males. And since the spell did not replace former loves and passions, but merely added to them, it would be sweet torment for Maza and Xanatos as well. Mad with love for each other, torn by their love for their former mates...

Laughing, Demona stepped forward and cast the papyrus into the nearest brazier, the dry brittle material igniting immediately, casting up billows of smoke. The air moved in lazy circles that carrying thick silver ropes with it. Demona was soon wreathed in the ghostly coils. The lyre in her hands played without her touch, the vibrations of it's music passing through her like a strange caress... as though the instrument was playing her.

_By poetry the enchantment winds,_  
_To lyre notes the passion binds_  
_Love apples and honey flavored heat_  
_The hunger grows with kisses sweet_  
_Each to each the need is shared_  
_Till all entwined their bodies bared_

_No respite, and no release_  
_Your passions sate or know no peace_  
_Always and forever tied_  
_The bounds by which you must abide_  
_No future spell can this undo_  
_Lovers to each and each to you_

As the last words of the spell fell on her ears, Demona's eyes widened in sudden, horrible realization.

"WHAT?!"

Screams of outraged denial soon echoed through the night...

In Avalon, Aphrodite admired Oberon's Mirror. Already it was providing her with rich amusement. Her milk white hands pulled back her long, golden mane, as the view of Demona faded to that of her own fay visage. Oh what had that luscious, crimson tressed gargoyle expected? Summoning the goddess of love and beauty with such a stirring reading of Sappho's passionate invocation? Laughing, Aphrodite scanned the mirror for the one named Xanatos.

With Lord Oberon's edict against direct tampering with humans in mind, Aphrodite's eyes lit with a wicked gleam. After all, the rules that could not be broken could be bent. Even Oberon could not disapprove the wiles she was weaving. Leaning forward as the mirror's surface changed again, she watched the planted seeds of passion bloom...

**THE NEXT DAY**

Fox listened to David's slow steady breathing as they lay cuddled in bed. The temporary white streak in his dark hair had mostly smudged out. She leaned over and stroked his rumpled hair, kissing the side of his face while he slept. Last night had been incredible. They'd snuck out of the movie premiere they'd been attending, giggling and chuckling like teenagers, groping at each other in the Limo. She would have blamed it on the champagne, but neither of them had more than a glass apiece. Maybe it was just the thrill of freedom after weeks of hard work. David with his financial empire, and Fox with her magical studies with Alex.

Owen had thought both she and her son could benefit from being tutored together. If she'd realized what a stern task master the human guised Puck would be, Fox might not have agreed so readily. Still, there was a certain satisfaction from mastering even the most simple spells. It almost made up for the fact that her infant son could literally work circles around her.

She and her husband hadn't had more than a few moments together for several days. Absence was said to make the heart grow fonder. Then again, Fox smiled in satisfaction, it just might be that she and David were a perfect match, in and out of bed. But whatever the reason, the sex had been exceptionally good. They'd stretched their limits, mentally as well as physically. Experimented with new fantasies...

With a feline stretch, Fox slipped from the bed covers. She shivered as the cool morning air hit her bared skin, her nipples tightening in response to the memories of passion as much as the chill. Casting about for a wrap, Fox's eye lighted on the red bomber jacket she'd worn during part of their role play. The one David had stripped from her body before cuffing her to the bed. Fox smothered a laugh as she imagined what any of the gargoyle clan might have thought, hearing David calling Elisa's name in passion. Or her own voice cursing Tony Dracon for "taking advantage" of her.

But the gargoyles perches were far from the Xanatos private bed chamber, and the special additions David had modeled the room with made it virtually sound proof. They could have had a Roman Orgy at full blast, and not had anyone the wiser unless they had their ear pressed against the door. And even if trust was a fragile and strained thing between the gargoyles and Xanatos, no one in Goliath's clan would stoop to snoop. It was one of their endearingly naive quailities.

Fox slipped into Elisa's jacket. The gargoyles' little police friend had left it at the castle during her last visit. The dog days of summer had made even night time too warm for heavy clothing. But the controlled climate of the castle's central air was a little much for Fox's nakedness. Turning up the collar, Fox inhaled the spicy scent of leather, and something uniquely Elisa. Mmmmm... It was the jacket that had inspired their wicked little scenario last night. Fox planned to return the jacket to Maza, none the worse for wear.

Fox's hand drifted from the collar down to her breasts, slipping beneath the red leather to stroke the still hard peaks. Her breath hissed back in her throat as her own caress sent electric thrills chasing downwards. Eyes slitted with pleasure, Fox had to restrain herself from letting her other hand dip down to cup the mound of her sex, or even playing with the short, silky red curls there. She didn't need to touch herself there to know that she was beginning to moisten with desire.

Abandoning her plan to take a morning shower, Fox padded back to her sleeping husband.

"David." she called softly, crawling back onto the bed, "Daaaaaavid."

"Mrmph?" Xanatos blinked sleepily up at the woman straddling him, eyes still blurry from sleep.

All he could make out was naked flesh and a red jacket, and long hair falling over him like a veil.

"Why Detective Maza, this is an unexpected pleasure." he began, his trademark grin slipping into place...

Dominique Destine paced her office. The remains of her ritual had long been cleared away, and she was not only dressed, but over dressed. Despite the heat, Demona had garbed herself in her most conservative, concealing, human clothes. A high collared, long sleeved victorian blouse. A severe, black linen business jacket, and matching skirt. The skirt was the longest in her wardrobe, it's hem fell beneath her knees. Black, patent leather boots buttoned up the sides reached up over her calves, completely covering the rest of her. It was as if she thought the clothes would armor her against the dreaded back fire of her spell. She still didn't know what had gone wrong. Her bright green eyes flashed with fury, and... fear.

She had set up a meeting that afternoon with the one man who might be able to help her out of this dreadful affair. No! Not affair! Trap! This dreadful TRAP! Demona shook the word affair from her mind. Her full lips pursed as she considered what she planned to do. First, she'd see how bad the effects of the spell really were. Maybe she was making a mountain out of a mole hill.

She clung to that thought desperately. After all, this was a working through a supernatural being, not her own direct manipulation of magical forces. A goddess who's temples had lain empty for centuries before the gargoyle who'd become Demona was hatched.

How much power could one over-sexed Greek deity have anyways?

The buzz on her intercom interrupted her train of thought.

"Ms. Destine? Mr. Xanatos has arrived early. Shall I send him in or have him wait?"

Biting off a curse, Demona answered through gritted teeth,"Send him in."

Fox snarled as she cut through the New York traffic. Because of a series of accidents and summertime road work, speed had slowed to a point where it was all but congealed. This did not help her deteriorating mood at all. The day had started out so perfectly. David had woken up ready and willing. Very willing. She could still hear his cry of release, not once but twice during the morning hours of their frentic love making...

Like a woman possessed, Fox had fallen on her husband . The taste of him, his scent adding fuel to the burning flame of her desire. The trappings of a modern, civilized woman shed from her like a snake's skin as she writhed in primitive heat. David had surrendered to her primal hunger, abandoning any attempt at sophistication in their purely animalistic rut. All she'd wanted was him inside her, hard and fast. And David Xanatos was a man to give a woman what she wanted.

She'd arched and bucked beneath him, demanding more. And for long, deliciously torturous moments he'd given it to her, driving her into the bed with the force of his thrusts. Fox had felt herself clasp tightly around him, hot, wet and ready to explode. Almost there...

And then David roared out as his seed gushed within her. Moaning, she'd continued to rock her body against his, milking him, searching for her own orgasm. Yet though she was right on the cusp, it eluded her.

David had kissed her, taking her desperate whimpers into his own mouth. Even though he'd finished, he could tell his wife had not. So he continued to kiss her until she'd calmed somewhat, then continued to kiss his way down to her very sensitive breasts. Each flick of his tongue was like a tiny shock, each playful nip dragged out a desperate moan. The trail of kisses descended, and David made love to the tender field of his wife's stomach. It was softer since Alex's birth, curving slightly outward, but Fox's dedication to her combat training had kept her deliciously fit. David devoted a long moment to his wife's navel before moving down.

Short, silky red curls formed a small V over Fox's sex, and David pulled back a moment to admire them. The vibrant color against the paleness of his wife's skin, the way her plump mound jutted forward as she canted her hips just so, offering herself to him. He opened her then, exposing the flushed, juicy inner sex. She looked good enough to eat.

So he had. Plying her with his skilled tongue, coaxing her to renewed heights of pleasure with his agile fingers, until Fox was moaning his name with fevered abandon. Long he lingered, pleasuring her with love and enthusiasm... but Fox still hadn't been able to cum. So lost in her need, she begged for him to fuck her. Pleading with pure desperation.

Xanatos had always been a man able to rise to the occasion. His lovemaking to his wife had revived his resilient cock. He slid into her with a single strong thrust, then clasped her tight to him and rolled until their positions were reversed. Fox now mounted above him left no time in beginning a fast, pumping ride. David's breath became ragged as he fought for control, determined not to come before his wife a second time. He thrust upwards in time with Fox's descent, and grasped her hips tightly, his fingers digging hard into the soft tender globes of her flesh. Time lost it's meaning as their world constricted to the sound of their pounding hearts, and wet sound of hard, fast sex.

In the end, after what seemed like an endless rut, David surrendered to his second orgasm. Crying out with despair, Fox had stretched her acting abilities to the limit, and faked her own culmination. Letting her exhausted husband collapse contentedly, amidst the tangled, sweat dampened bed sheets, Fox escaped to their overly sumptuous bathroom. In that spacious chamber, decorated in ornate black marble threaded through with golden mica flecks, Fox had stared at her wild eyed reflection, trying to figure out what was wrong.

It wasn't David. So... it had to be... her.

Finding no answers in her own overly bright gaze, and all but weeping with need, Fox had stepped into the shower. Under a downpour of heated water, she tried to bring herself relief with her own hands. But it was useless. Masturbating hadn't helped at all, and left her only more frustrated and confused. Finally, sobbing in anger and want, she savagely twisted the temperature control to it's coldest setting. Over and over she doused herself with freezing water until her sexual heat had broken down to a manageable level.

When she'd finally emerged, wrapped in a towel, teeth still chattering from the chilly water, it was to find David gone. He had left a note, telling her he had a meeting to get to, and then later he'd be flying out of town for a series of factory tours. "Love You", in large letters had been scrawled on the bottom, almost as an after thought.

Fox was torn between fury and relief. She'd never faked it with David before, and she half expected him to be waiting for her in bed, demanding an explanation. The thought made her knees weaken, since she had none to give. Then there was the part of her that wondered how he could not have noticed that she wasn't really satisfied. That she'd simply acted out her orgasm, and not actually achieved it. Why had she done it? To spare David's feeling? Or her own?

Reluctant to stay in the castle, a troubled Fox had instructed Owen to look after Alex while she returned Elisa Maza's jacket. When Owen had offered to have a flunky take care of the chore for her, Fox all but bit his head off. She hadn't meant to... But her nerves were so stressed. She needed to talk to someone. A female someone. And it had hit her, she didn't really have any girl friends.

Growing up, Fox had found out that her family's money got in the way of sincere friendship. That was in part why she'd been happy to abandon her identity as Janine Renard, and embrace her new persona, Fox. But even as Fox, true friends were few and far between. Not the endless social acquaintances she picked up with careless ease, but the kind of people who she could share something so private, she couldn't even tell David. In fact, Fox could think of only two females that she might trust enough to speak with. Angela, whose stone sleep would keep her unavailable till nightfall, and Elisa Maza. And frankly, Fox didn't think Angela had the life experience to be of any help.

Elisa it was then.

Fox spied a break in traffic, and forced her way in, heedless of the damage that her expensive red sports car might take. She was almost there. Almost to Elisa's apartment building. Fox had a sudden, horrible thought. What if Elisa wasn't home? But the police detective worked the night shift, and odds were very good she was all tucked in bed, sleeping the well earned rest of the just.

Probably in just an oversized t-shirt. Those long, tanned legs exposed as Detective Maza shifted in her sleep. Fox's lips quirked in the first smile she'd had since leaving her bedroom. Lingerie was all very nice, but a lovely woman in a simple shirt could be as sexy as anything from Fredricks of Hollywood. And somehow, Fox couldn't really imagine no-nonsense Elisa sleeping in one of the flimsy, filmy teddies that made David's eyes light up.

Well... maybe she could imagine it a little. Like that dark amber silk number, the golden cloth clinging sensuously to Elisa's delicate curves. Backless, with a low draped neck, it's hemline flirting dangerously with the bottom of her hips...

Fox blinked. She must really be out of sorts to be fantasizing about Elisa. Of course she'd always thought the dark haired police detective was attractive... But Fox didn't think straight laced Elisa Maza would ever consider swinging, much less swinging the other way. Not when there was a handsome brute like Goliath to fill her... nights. And married to David, Fox hadn't really looked at anyone else with any serious heat, male or female for a long while. The games she and her husband liked to play had not yet widened to include other people, except in fantasy role play.

Was that the problem? Fox began to worry that after her past, sexually exotic tastes, being faithfully monogamous with David was somehow inhibiting her. That lasted a second before she shook her head with a smothered bark of laughter. No, that wasn't it at all. David was just as experienced as she, and wickedly inventive. Their sex life together was fantastic. Or... it had been. Fox squirmed in her seat. The unsatisfied fires of lust she'd drowned so mercilessly earlier hadn't died out completely. The smoldering embers still glowed, dull red, banked heat... It was making her uncomfortable.

Xanatos loved his wife passionately. But he was glad to have an excuse for a respite.. Fox had used him to the point of exhaustion this morning, and he'd feared that she'd come out of the bathroom fresh for another round. It wasn't that the spirit was unwilling, but the flesh was alas, only human. He wondered for a moment if Fox's half Fay heritage was responsible for her suddenly insatiable appetite. Whatever the cause, he was not about to face her with less than the ability to completely fulfill her desires.

He had planned to put off this meeting with Nightstone Unlimited's CEO, and spend the day with Fox and Alex. But the phone call he'd received had changed his mind. The original meeting had been to go over a proposed joint venture between Nightstone and Xanatos' robotics' corporation, Scarab. Just another business deal, and easily rescheduled for another day. But when Demona, as Dominique Destine, had called herself... and almost begged to see him, Xanatos knew something was afoot. He'd cleaned up hastily, and headed out before Fox even finished her shower. Xanatos felt a twinge of guilt, at that... but he planned to make it up to Fox later. But for now...

As he stepped into the executive office of Nightstone Unlimited, Xanatos couldn't help but notice the difference in style of Demona's human clothes. It was so severe... yet sexy. There was just something about a beautiful red head... His lips curled up in appreciation, and the realization that while he'd seen pictures of Demona as Dominique, he had yet to meet his sometimes ally, sometimes foe, in her human guise.

The pictures hadn't really done her justice.

"Dominique... That's a new look for you." David Xanatos lifted an approving eyebrow as his gaze wandered up Demona's human figure, "Kind of a 'repressed school teacher/dominatrix' combo. I approve."

"Xanatos! I neither desire nor need your approval." Demona snapped, her nerves on edge.

David Xanatos was dressed in a tasteful storm grey Armani business suit, his dark hair gathered smoothly back in his habitual pony tail, all in all a well groomed picture. But even as a human, Demona's sensitive nose could make out the reek of sex. It clung to him like a deviant perfume.

"You stink!"

David's eyebrow arched higher as he took in Demona's childish insult. He was used to her sharp edged tongue, and perversely appreciated her acerbic wit. But this barb was not her usual caliber.

"Gee, I love you too." he snapped back.

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Demona thundered, green eyes flashing.

Xanatos fought not to jump at the unexpected force of Demona's response. Well now... his eyes narrowed. Something he'd said had hit a nerve.

"Demona, what is this all about? I didn't come all the way over here to exchange playground taunts, or childish yelling matches."

Waiting for her answer, Xanatos couldn't help but notice how Demona's ample chest heaved beneath the stark white blouse. Something really had the old girl worked up.

"My eyes are up *here*, human." Demona's voice dripped quiet acid, as she pointed to her face.

"Sorry, my bad. I've just had a thing for the strict, librarian look." Xanatos grinned as he flipped off a casual apology.

"Really? Sounds like a personal problem to me." Demona sniffed, eying him warily.

This wasn't so bad, she thought. Xanatos was paying a disgusting amount of attention to her female charms, but not any more than any man would. There was no deep lust, or love shining in his eyes.

"Xanatos... Have you felt anything... strange... lately?" Demona tried to raise the matter with more delicacy than she usually showed.

She didn't want to tip him off that she'd laid a spell on him and Elisa, but she _ **had**_ to know wether or not last night's magic had ensnared herself as well. So far, so good. Even if Xanatos had some kind of perverse attraction for herself, Demona didn't feel at all attracted to him. In fact, all her usual contempt seemed to be in place.

"Strange... how?" Xanatos asked, frowning. "Demona, what kind of game are you playing?"

"Nothing! Nothing... I just wondered. I could not help but notice how you smell of rutting. And how is Fox by the way?" she probed, curiously.

Surely if Xanatos was breeding his wife this morning, it was a sign that he was not lusting after Elisa Maza either. Perhaps the spell last night was a dud on all accounts.

"Fox is fine." David said, perturbed.

So that was what the 'stink' remark was about? Okay, so he hadn't had time for his own shower before leaving, but surely he didn't smell of ...

"And Elisa Maza?" Demona asked.

Demona noticed the dark flush that rose in David's face with interest.

"I believe she's fine as well. But you've never been the good detective's biggest fan, Demona. Why this sudden concern?" Xanatos demanded, using his genuine pique to cover the heat of his blush.

"No concern, Xanatos. It's only that you have her smell on you. Too." Demona said, real puzzlement seeping into her voice.

No longer worried about her own response to Xanatos, she stepped closer to him, leaning in to get a better whiff...

"Hey!" Xanatos backed peddled, "Personal space, Ms. Destine!"

"Hmmm?" Demona blinked and looked up surprised. The expression on Xanatos was rather a rather comical blend of apprehension and confusion.

"Don't worry Xanatos, I don't bite." Demona said, her first real smile of the day playing on her lips, then added archly, "Oh... that's a lie. I guess I do."

Xanatos had halted his retreat, and regained his composure. Demona was acting decidedly odd, but he wasn't about to let her get the upper hand on him. For surreal moment, he'd thought she was about to kiss him. But seeing the familiar cool contempt in her eyes, he knew it was simply a mad fancy. The two of them stood there for a long moment, their bodies so close each could feel the heat radiating from the other...

Elisa yawned as she dragged open her door, and peered past the chain link of her safety lock. Her eyes squinted, then widened as she realized Fox Xanatos was standing outside her apartment. The former actress was looking quite chic, in a light weight designer dress of cerulean blue silk, a shade that complimented her loose tumble of russet red hair, and set off her luminous eyes. Fox's appearance was immaculate, her make up was perfect, not that she needed it with that flawless complexion. She was without a doubt gorgeous.

Elisa hated her.

Here Fox was looking like a cover girl model, while Elisa was in a rumpled flannel nightshirt, with a bad case of bed head. No make-up, and feeling very much like a ragged sparrow next to a flashy jay, the dark haired detective frowned at her unexpected guest. Fox couldn't have shown up at a worst time. Elisa had been deep in a rare, erotic dream. And with as much action as she was getting, Elisa needed her dreams.

She and Goliath had finally acknowledged that there was something between them. Something romantic. Something like... love. But he was still all too conscious of the differences between them. The physical differences. Their nascent love play was slow... tender... Too tender for Elisa's taste. But Goliath would not be rushed, would not chance harming the fragile flower he perceived Elisa to be. For all their heated embraces, and exploring touches... Goliath had yet to over come the fear he might hurt Elisa if they went that final step.

And Elisa was slowly going mad for wanting him. In her dream they'd been together, flying high in the night sky while flowers of fire blossomed around them. And they'd been making love. Powerful, primitive, wonderful love... and she'd almost gotten to the point of sweet release when the hard rap of someone knocking at the front door had jerked her from sleep. Elisa tried to hang on to the memory of the lovemaking as she struggled awake, but as with most of her dreams, the details faded away as soon as Elisa opened her eyes. All she was left with was the achy feeling of arousal, and the frustration of need unfulfilled.

"Fox. This better be good." Elisa griped, in her 'before wake up coffee' growl.

Slipping the chain of the door, Elisa swung it all the way open. Fox hesitated a moment, then strolled in.

"You know Maza, I don't think I've ever seen the inside of your place before." Fox commented idly, taking in the simple, almost spartan decor.

Cagney took the opportunity to rub up against the visitor's ankles, his purr coming out full throttle.

"That's because I've never invited you here before." Elisa said shortly, dragging her hands through her sleep tangled hair, wincing slightly when she encountered snags in the long dark mass.

Fox set the jacket she'd brought up on the back of Elisa's couch, then bent down to pick up Cagney.

"Well hello fella. At least you're glad to see me." she said, supporting him against her chest.

Cagney rumbled in agreement.

"Look, Fox, I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here?" Elisa asked, a slightly hostile edge creeping into her voice.

For a long moment Fox was quiet. Dropping Cagney to the floor she wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly uncertain.

"I... I don't know really." Fox said finally, looking into Elisa's dark, puzzled eyes, "I just needed someone to talk to. I was hoping that someone could be you."

"Me?" Elisa wasn't sure she'd heard right, "Why me?"

"Because I need a friend." Fox said simply, shrugging her shoulders, "And you are someone I think I could trust. Isn't that strange?"

Elisa was about to agree, that yes it was strange, until she looked closer at the woman before her. Why hadn't she noticed it before? Fox's face was ghostly pale beneath the beautiful make up job, and her fine blue eyes were haunted. Vulnerable.

Her initial anger at Fox's visit dissolved as Elisa realized something serious was troubling the woman. With a start of guilt, Elisa realized she didn't really know Fox very well at all. They rarely had any direct contact, and those few times had mainly been as adversaries... sort of. Yet, Elisa was honest enough to admit that she'd come to think of Fox as an enemy, simply because she was married to David Xanatos. And current ally or not, Elisa was far from trusting Xanatos. Any Xanatos, which included Fox. But still... Elisa had a lot of experience telling truth from lies. Her cop instinct. Her woman's intuition. All were telling her that Fox was in real distress.

It was not in Elisa to ignore anyone who might need her help.

"Fox... " Elisa reached out, and drew the other woman with her to the couch, "If you honestly need someone to talk to... I have some time."

Xanatos and Demona stepped back from each other at the same time.

Demona looked away, a stricken look on her face. Dammit! No!

She'd been too cocky, too sure of herself once again. She'd only meant to tease the human a little. Exert her power a little... make him nervous. Not...

Not kiss him.

Her lips still burned with the heat of his mouth on hers...

Xanatos stood stunned himself.

What had just happened? One moment he'd been laughing off the idea of Demona kissing him... And the next she actually was. After the initial shock of surprise, he realized that she was only taunting him, trying to push him off balance. She had no real desire for him, this was just another power play. Well, power was a game Xanatos played very well indeed, and he was more than willing to give as good as he got.

So he had kissed back. Hungrily, demandingly... And she'd surrendered under that hunger, her mouth opening to the invasion of his aggressive tongue which forced it's way deep into her warm moistness, rubbing insistently while he pulled Demona into a full embrace. He fully expected her to fight. To become a hellcat in his arms, to twist out of his grasp spitting curses at him for his liberties.

He hadn't expected her to melt against him. He hadn't expected the growl of desire that came from his own throat, or the answering moan from the woman in his arms. And he certainly didn't expect his third erection of the day to suddenly make itself present while pressed against Demona's inviting warmth.

The sudden realization of what they were doing hit them at the same moment. They broke the embrace simultaneously.

"Get out."

Xanatos blinked at Demona's sudden demand...

"Demona... I... we..." he began.

"Get OUT!" she raged at him, not quite striking a blow as she pointed to the exit.

For once Xanatos didn't have a snappy reply. Staring at Demona's flushed, human face, and seeing the strange mixture of anger and fear, he decided discretion was the better part of valor.

He got out.

Only after he left did Demona, shaking, sink to the floor in despair...

Elisa's could feel her ears burning as Fox finished telling her story.

She wanted to blame the rising heat in her face to the brandy that she had first offered to Fox, then poured for herself once the content of her guests woes was made clear. But it wasn't the liquor that was making her blush and squirm. The former leader of the Pack had no qualms about speaking with vivid descriptions, and absolute openness about her sexual relationship with her husband. It was distressing in it's honesty... and as Elisa shifted uneasily in her seat beside Fox, shamefully arousing.

"So... um... You and Xanatos have a problem." Elisa finally said, hoping her face wasn't as flushed as she thought it was.

"No, David doesn't have a problem at all. He got off twice this morning, and I'm about to jump out of my skin because I can't." Fox stated morosely, staring into her empty glass.

How many shots had she had? Two? Three?

"Shouldn't you be talking to your husband about this? I mean... If you are having a problem, it's his problem too." Elisa suggested, uncomfortably aware of how close Fox's dilemma was to her own with Goliath.

"No!" Fox replied, her head snapping up, eyes like blue fire... startling Elisa.

But her outburst was short lived. Shoulders slumping, Fox buried her face in her hands... Elisa had to lean closer to the distraught woman to hear her muffled words...

"No... I can't. You don't tell someone like David that 'hey, our sex is great, you're great, but gee, I just can't cum' ... " Fox began to tremble... "I couldn't hurt him like that."

To Elisa's horror, Fox began to cry...

"It's my problem. Something is wrong with ME. David... David doesn't have to know about it yet. I just have to find a way to fix it..."

The rest was lost in a storm of hiccupping sobs. Elisa hesitated, but only for a moment, then gathered up the shaking woman in her arms.

"Hey, hey now... shhhhh... It's okay Fox. You don't have to tell him yet. It's okay. It'll be alright sweet heart... Just cry yourself out, I'm here for you..." she said, rocking Fox gently.

Elisa could tell that Fox was tied up in emotional knots. There was something going on here besides just marital difficulties. Fox's reaction to this was so extreme... But whatever was feeding this outbreak of emotion would have to be worked through when Fox was ready, not before. Until then, Elisa was willing to hold her, and let her cry until the tears were all gone.

Fox pressed her face against Elisa's shoulder, and abandoned her pretense to composure. How could she have lost so much self control? She hadn't meant to become a weeping, wet dishrag... but Elisa had been so easy to talk to. Somehow, for some strange reason, it felt right. Elisa felt right.

Slowly, Fox's sobs diminished, and she was left breathing raggedly... And realized how intimately her body was pressed against Elisa's own. Fox could feel Elisa's pulse, fluttering against her cheek... Turning her head just slightly, Fox knew she could capture that butterfly movement with a kiss.

Shocked at her thought, Fox froze.

"Fox?" Elisa noticed how still the other woman had gone in her arms.

Pulling away slightly, she looked into the now silent woman's tear stained face. Elisa didn't notice the odd look Fox was giving her, as her own eyes were drawn to the delicate trembling of the woman's lips. All that weeping, and the moist, light coral pink hadn't smudged at all. It was natural. Elisa reached up and rubbed a thumb gently along Fox's bottom lip, not quite realizing what she was doing until Fox inhaled sharply.

"Oh!" Elisa's dark brown eyes widened, and her gaze lifted to meet Fox's cerulean stare, "I'm sorry Fox, I didn't mean..."

Her words were cut off, not from embarrassment, but because Fox's soft lips had covered her own.

"Fox..." Elisa's mouth opened to speak... But somehow what she intended to be a polite protest turned into a responding kiss..

Oh god... Elisa's senses swam... She tasted good as she looked. Like warm honey and cinnamon... so sweet. The kiss deepened, and Elisa forgot all about protesting as Fox's tongue moved gently against her own. Elisa moaned at the sensation of their mutual exploration. She could feel a shiver run through her entire body, as the sweet torment of Fox's kiss continued. Beneath the flannel, her nipples tightened... and lower still the ache of arousal she'd woken with intensified...

Fox was lost in the kiss... the teasing touch of Elisa's tongue rubbing sensuously against her own. The unexpected desire that sparked between them being returned so sweetly... so well. She felt her body warming, trembling with longing for the dark haired detective as their breath mingled in intimate caress...

The need for air finally allowed them to pull apart, and the two women stared at each other dazed.

"What just happened?" Elisa asked, voice shaky with passion.

"I don't know..." Fox half whispered, her fingers rising to her lips, her blue eyes wide, "But... I'd like to find out. If you do... Elisa."

"I... "

Elisa knew she was supposed to say no. Politely, no. Hell, no...

"... yes."

They stood together, uncertainly... almost shy.

"Fox... I've never... With a woman..." Elisa tried to speak, but it was coming out all jumbled.

"Shhh..." Fox reached up to lay a slender finger against Elisa's lips, stilling them, "We'll take it slow. Just do... what feels natural to you."

Elisa's kissed Fox's finger tip.

"That feels natural." she whispered, her breath warm against Fox's skin.

Fox felt a great shudder of desire run through her. Just from a tiny kiss.

"Elisa..."

There was wonder when she spoke the name. Wonder, and shaky anticipation.

Elisa moved closer to Fox, and stroked her hands down through the length of the soft fiery curtain of hair, pulling it forward.

"It's beautiful, like autum leaves... but so silky." she said, leaning forward to inhale it's scent, "It's almost like...lilac... and roses?"

She sighed, and opened her eyes to Fox's smile.

"It's a special blend, my mother still sends it to me in hand made soaps and lotions... I think she's trying to bribe my forgiveness... with the flowers of Avalon."

"It's smells wonderful." Elisa said, continuing to stroke Fox's hair, "You smell wonderful."

"Thank you." Fox said, straight faced, "If you really like it, you're welcome to bathe with me sometime."

Elisa laughed uncertainly, thinking Fox was joking... but a picture of her and Fox submerged together in a large bath of hot scented bubbles flashed through her mind...

"I think... I'd like that." she breathed, then felt her lips curl up wickedly, "But to bathe, you'd first have to remove your dress."

Reaching behind Fox, Elisa couldn't help but trembling as she pulled down the zipper that held the dress together. The rasping burr seemed to fill the room. When she ran out of zipper, Elisa stepped back, and waited for Fox to make the next move.

Slowly, one shoulder at a time, Fox shrugged out of the dress... A little shimmy, and it shifted downwards, the silk like water sheeting off her softly female curves. It ended up pooled around her ankles, until Fox stepped delicately out of the center. Elisa felt her mouth go dry, as Fox stood, clad only in an ivory lace bra and panty set, a pair of smoky blue sheer stockings held by ivory garters... and her blue high heels. It was heels that made the police detective blink and stare She hadn't noticed until now how very high they were, 4 inches, maybe 5... From the pointed toes to the criss cross ankle straps, they were shoes to sin in.

"Jalapena...! Do you dress like this *every* day?" Elisa asked, a slightly strangled note in her voice, her eyes tracking back up Fox's beautifully displayed form.

It was just as good going up as it had been down. Suddenly reminded of her own, less than sexy attire, Elisa looked down at her rumpled flannel nightie and bare feet.

"Elisa..." Fox stepped forward, reaching out to cup the embarrassed woman's chin, lifting her face up. "I think you look incredibly sexy too."

"Uh... Really?" Elisa, asked, trembling at Fox's touch, and mesmerized by the hunger in those oh so blue eyes.

"Really." Fox whispered, bringing her lips down on Elisa's.

This kiss was not shy, or tentative... It was boldly passionate, demanding passion in return... And Elisa responded with a fierceness that took them both by surprise. When they finally broke for breath, Fox was pierced to the core by a feeling of indescribable sweetness... A feeling she'd never felt before.

Holding Elisa's face in her hands, Fox stared at the police detective as if truly seeing her for the first time. Elisa met Fox's searching gaze with half lidded, dark chocolate eyes still dreamy and stunned from their kiss.

"Okay. I believe you." Elisa said, voice reedy from lack of air, "But if you want to do some more convincing..."

Smiling hopefully, and reaching up, Elisa gently traced the edge of the blue fox head design with a delicate fingertip, trailing her caress down to Fox's parted lips, and stroked lightly across them...

Fox welcomed the invitation to 'convince' the dusky beauty with butterfly kisses... Soft, barely there kisses... First on the teasing finger tip, then on Elisa's forehead, brushing down to her closing eyelids, then the tip of Elisa's nose... causing the police detective to swallow a giggle... cheeks, lips... elluding Elisa's playful, darting tongue to continue down the delicate line of Elisa's throat...

Fox's hands slipped down, slowly unbuttoning detective Maza's nightshirt...

Elisa held still, hardly daring to breath as Fox trailed her kisses lower, christening each inch of bared, golden skin with her coral lips...the warm, scented valley between Elisa's breasts... the flat plane of Elisa's taut stomach... the sensitive skin just above the plain cotton, salmon pink panties... Then the panties themselves...

Gasping, Elisa could feel the press of Fox's mouth on her sex, through the thin material. The wet caress of Fox's tongue probing against the sheer cotton.

"I can taste you." Fox's voice was a throaty whisper... It made Elisa's flush hotly, a burn started at her toes and ran all the way up, leaving her naturally bronzed skin tinged with a pink tone that matched her underwear.

"Ohhh... A full body blush!" Fox's voice betrayed her amazement, and growing satisfaction.

Grinning up at the furiously blushing detective, Fox settled down on her knees, her hands stroked up Maza's beautifully toned, golden bronze legs, and gently she nudged them farther apart. Her mouth wandered back up to the top edge of Elisa's panties, delicately snaring it with her teeth. With a purring hum, Fox dragged the delicate garmet down, until it was mid thigh, then stopped to admire the picture Elisa presented...

Long dark hair still tousled from her interrupted sleep, dark brown eyes wide and watching... Unbuttoned flannel nightshirt revealing a delicious strip of naked flesh down the center, with the teasing hint of firm, unfettered breasts barely concealed, and salmon panties pulled halfway down, revealing the glossy black thatch of curls modestly hiding Elisa's sex.

Elisa's hands fluttered at her sides, as if wanting to conceal the exposed treasures, yet they did not move to do so.

"Do you... do you like what you see?" Elisa asked, finally clasping her hands behind her back, not realizing how that movement would thrust her chest forward, causing the gap in her shirt to widen even more.

It was Fox's turn to feel her mouth go dry. Oh detective, she thought, if you only knew...

"I... like." she managed.

"Good." Elisa smiled, and with a rolling shrug of her shoulders, caused the nightshirt to drop backwards, where it settled, bunched over her clasped hands.

Fox heard a strange keening sound... and realized it was coming from herself. Choking it off, she rose to her feet, feeling not a little shaky as pure lust sparkled through her veins like liquid fire.

Elisa almost took a step back when she saw the intensity in Fox's gaze. Again, those cerulean blue eyes, burning like fire... But Elisa Maza had in her time faced down gods, men, and monsters... she would not back away from a desire so pure it seared.

"Elisa..." Fox's voice purred dangerously, "Do you know what are you doing?"

"What comes naturally." Elisa breathed, voice far calmer than she felt.

The flannel shirt fell to the ground, as Elisa unclasped her hands. The panties slipped down unnoticed as she held her arms out to Fox.

It was an invitation that was not denied.

Somehow, amid the kisses and exploring touches, they made their way to Elisa's bed.

Fox fell backwards, as Elisa's hands toyed with ivory lace. Wondering, Fox watched the play of emotion on the detective's face as she began to peel away the last barriers between her and Fox's full breasts. When the garment fell away, Elisa leaned down to bestow wet, teasing kisses to the tight, crinkled rose buds revealed. Fox gasped at the sensation of Elisa's tongue laving the exposed nipples, a tingling sensation arcing from the sensitive nubs ran straight down to the still concealed portion of her anatomy. A whimper sat in Fox's throat when Elisa's lips closed over one tight pink bud and began to suck.

"Ahhhh... Elisa." Fox sighed, arching forward.

She had always had very sensitive breasts. Elisa's attention to them heaven. When she began to nibble... Fox's hips began to buck involuntarily, and she couldn't help but bury her hands in Elisa's dark hair, gripping the silken mass tightly, and dragging the police detective's face upwards for another deep throated kiss. Their bodies pressed together they rolled over on their sides, still kissing.

Elisa's hands had wandered down during their embrace, her graceful fingers dark against Fox's paler skin. Slowly they slipped beneath Fox's remaining undergarment, cupping the full curves of Fox's bottom, rubbing the firm resilient flesh with kneading motions. Fox squirmed in pleasure at the erotic massage, feeling warmth pool at the base of her spine and flood forward to her moist sex. Her own hands abandoned the silken luxury of Elisa's dark mane, and descended to help remove the lace panties that were being worked down by Elisa's movements.

Elisa abandoned Fox's honey sweet mouth, the scent of cinnamon drugging her senses, and moved to taste the hollow of Fox's bared throat. Licking catlike at the vulnerable spot, and trailing hot, wet tongue strokes back to Fox's heaving breasts. She nuzzled at the soft undersides of the full, ripe orbs, sucking gently at the tender skin. Fox could feel herself melting, as Elisa then moved with torturous slowness down to the curve of Fox's waist, laying her dark cheek for a moment against the pale stomach and resting there...

"Fox... " Elisa's voice was breathy, "I... I want you to know I don't take casual lovers."

Fox felt the air stop in her lungs... She felt as if she would die if Elisa didn't complete her journey, but...

"I know." Fox managed to say, blinking back tears, "I don't either. We don't... We can stop... If you don't want to..."

"I don't want to... " Elisa's voice was ragged...

Fox felt the world collapse from beneath her.

"...stop." the detective finished, kissing the curve of Fox's hip, "I just wanted you to know this means something to me. Even if I don't know what it is exactly."

Fox felt a fierce surge of joy, and a possessiveness she hadn't realized was there. For Elisa... _Her_ Elisa.

"I want you too Elisa Maza." Fox replied, reaching to stroke Elisa's cheek.

And heaven help her, Fox realised, she not only wanted Elisa for now... but... always? The terrifying implications of that thought were pushed away as Elisa spread the lips of Fox's now exposed sex, and kissed...

Fox blinked dazed, as she fluttered back to awareness... had she passed out? Just from Elisa kissing her there? That had never happened before... Not even with David. Ohhhh... and... Elisa hadn't stopped...

Fox's panties were completely stripped away, and only the garters and stockings remained, no impediment to Elisa's intimate, oral exploration.

She took her time, slowly lapping at the edges of the revealed pinkness of Fox's spread open sex. Teasing the inner labia with serpentine patterns drawn with the hot wet warmth of her tongue. Then broader, harder laps that stroked the entire surface of Fox's slit, alternating with deeper, more probing strokes... Fox's hips rocked, her breath went ragged... she couldn't seem to drag enough oxygen into her lungs... Her loud moans echoed through Elisa's tiny apartment as detective Maza did some very thorough investigating.

Elisa found the shiny, vulnerable nub of Fox's unhooded clitoris...

Coherent thought dissolved once more as Fox Xanatos exploded... with Elisa's name on her lips.

Demona stared at the empty bottle of scotch. Correction. Bottles. All the tiny bottles of airplane liquor that she'd somehow aquired as Dominique Destine. She didn't drink. No more than a glass of champagne during social occasions. Could not afford to have her senses clouded when she was around the humans. But she wasn't around any humans right now...

Uncapping another tiny bottle, Demona brought it to her lips and tilted the contents down her throat.

She WANTED her senses clouded now. Especially the senses that were telling her how very good Xanatos had tasted... felt... smelled...

Another bottle followed the fifth... sixth? She'd lost count.

She was alone in the dim light of her human identity's living room. She'd left off the electricity, and only the edges of light sneaking past the shuttered windows gave any illumination to the room.

It was still too damned hot. She'd shed the business jacket as soon as she'd gotten home. Loosened the buttons on her blouse... but still the human clothing felt as constricting as fetters.

Standing up unsteadily, Demona stripped free of the blouse and skirt. It would be sunset soon...

The bra she hardly needed to support her firm bosom soon followed... And the ridiculous undergarments called panties... What had humans been thinking when they'd invented those scraps of cloth? Hardly protection, and if they were ornamental, why did they hide them under layers and layers of clothes?

Stupid humans.

Demona bent to unbutton the boots. All that remained of her "repressed school teacher" look... Damn Xanatos... She was NOT repressed. Not that it was any of that human's business. She'd had Goliath as a lover, and much as she thought him a great fool, Demona still dreamed about their mating flights... So many centuries ago. But after she'd lost him... the healthy fire of her animal lust had been close to ashes. Her only passion that of vengence. Until she'd met Macbeth. Somehow he'd gotten past her guard. Convinced her to ally with him against his enemies. Pretended to be her friend and ally. Oh... and like a fool she'd believed him.

Jerking free of the black leather, Demona sighed with momentary relief, letting her bare toes wiggle in the thick plush of the carpet. Toes. Such puny little things compared to her true form's impressive talons. An unbidden thought of Xanatos kissing the delicate instep of her human foot made Demona shiver. Oh, now *that* was utterly disgusting! She threw the remaining boot across the room with a vicious snarl. She didn't want the man touching her anywhere! Or kissing her!

Not like he'd kissed her earlier. Those cruelly demanding lips claiming her own...

"STOP THAT!" Demona shrieked, clutching her head in her hands, tearing at her sleeked back red hair, pulling at it so hard, it came unbound from the tasteful coif it had been confined in.

She continued to pull, trying to shake the memory of Xanatos from her mind... And all she could think of was his hands... imagining them in her hair, pulling it loose so it would tumble down around her bared shoulders, right before he dragged her towards him and...

"Noooo..." she whimpered, sinking down on the thick pile of the carpet, "Make it stop."

Think of something else, anything else! She demanded of herself, yanking again, until she could feel the strong strands of her fiery mane cutting into the tender flesh of her human palms. Think of Thailog! ugh... no that was just as bad... Thailog had betrayed her, used her...

Reluctantly Demona recalled exactly how well Thailog had used her. He'd taken advantage of her confusion at being in Paris... Waking up in a drifting boat with Macbeth of all people! At least the old Scotsman had been unconscious. Demona had slipped away without confrontation. Having no idea why she was there, she'd soared through the Parisian sky in a daze...

And found a new gargoyle! Not one of the human loving sychophants of Goliath. No, this gargoyle had not love for humans. And he had taken her breath away with his sheer physical presence. Never since Goliath had she seen such a powerful, handsome brute. And it was little surprise to learn he was Goliath's own dark reflection. Thailog. He was everything that Goliath was physically, yet so much more... Urbane and brilliant, with ambitions that rivaled her own. And he'd managed to secure vast resources of wealth to help him accomplish his many goals. Goals that matched her own so perfectly. Or so it had seemed.

He had appeared to be everything she could want in a gargoyle. In a mate. She hadn't questioned the swiftness in which he'd seduced her. She'd thought their attraction was mutual... natural... She had been alone for so very long...

And there she'd learned another difference between Goliath and his darker twin. Thailog's taste in love making had been... sophisticated.

Very sophisticated.

Over the centuries Demon thought she'd seen everything. Spying on the humans, she'd seen things that sometimes shocked, or amazed... but mostly disgusted the voyeuristic gargoyle. Centuries of watching human mating games had been somewhat amusing, but repetition soon bored her. She'd thought she had become quite jaded... until Thailog had shown her there was quite a lot she'd missed. A gargoyle was normally gifted by nature with attributes that put any human to shame when it came to mating. There was no need for the elaborate, and often silly looking antics she'd seen humans indulge in. Before Thailog, Demona would have scoffed at the thought of gargoyles doing anything so... unnatural with each other.

Thailog had been the very incarnation of unnatural. And heaven help her, Demona had learned to tolerate and even... enjoy... his perversions.

The ebony skinned gargoyle had been endlessly... and cruelly inventive.

Demona's eyes fluttered open as she realized that her human body was again flushing with arousal. Her hands had somehow wandered without her conscious direction. One to her breasts, cruelly pinching at the hard, tightly budded nipples... The other was nestled between her legs, stroking at the wet heat of her sex.

Lying naked on the carpet, she stared up at the ceiling, tears of frustration leaking from her eyes. Dragging her hands away from their ministrations, she balled them into fists and kept them at her sides. Her body aching with need...

But... Demona frowned... She hadn't been thinking of Xanatos at all. She'd become just as heated thinking about Thailog... that bastard... as she had about the human. Maybe... maybe she wasn't trapped in that spell after all? Maybe it was just her own imagination running wild with her... Her very fear and denial of arousal that had caused her to react so wantonly with her human nemesis.

Slowly, Demona went over the events of the meeting between herself and Xanatos once more... She hadn't been attracted to him when he first showed up. In fact, she'd been disgusted at the very thought of intimacy with the man. The fact he'd arrived smelling of rut had only increased her distaste. His wife's sexual musk had been all over him. Like some cat in heat, she'd rubbed her scent onto her mate, indelibly marking him with it. Demona's nose wrinkled in rememberance... she could almost smell it now... Fox's scent... and Elisa Maza? Like a faint chaser, the human detective's scent had also been in the mix. Not nearly as strong, but there.

Demona had leaned forward to examine that odd addition to the aroma that covered Xanatos...

And that's when she'd fallen into heat.

"Oh...!"

Demona sat straight up, green eyes wide with shock.

No... It couldn't possibly get any worse than this...

Elisa stroked the stray, sunset red strands from Fox's peaceful face. The other woman had cum explosively under Elisa's mouth, drenching her with the salty sweet evidence of supreme pleasure. Elisa had heard of female ejaculation before, but had thought it was only a myth. But, then Fox was half myth herself, wasn't she? The gorgeous half fay woman lying wantonly in her bed stirred, eyes fluttering open to stare into Elisa's smiling contenance.

"Well, Mrs. Xanatos, I would fair wager that there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with you." Elisa stated, before leaning forward to kiss the partially parted coral lips.

Fox moaned under Elisa's long, leisurely kiss, she could taste herself on Elisa's tongue, and in the warm damp cavern of the detective's mouth. The afterglow of her orgasm made the slightest touch a rich, creamy experience... Elisa deeply sensual kiss was like a main line of pure ecstacy.

When Elisa began to drag her hands over Fox's naked skin, reveling in the silky softness of the woman's pale flesh, Fox thought she would surely cum again as the warm liquid sensation between her thighs began to mount once more. Elisa's delicate, but strong fingers stroked open the pouting mound of Fox's sex, until they became slick with the juicy wetness gathered there.

"Elisa...?" Fox gasped, eyes shuttered in pleasure at the intimate touch, "Elisa if you keep doing that I'll... Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Those strong, slender fingers had pushed into Fox, and begun a slow, rythmic pumping...

"Yes, Fox?" Elisa said in feigned, innocent tone, "If I keep doing this you'll what?"

Fox wasn't able to answer. Her head thrashed back and forth as Elisa continued to finger fuck her with greater intensity.

"Ngghhh aaaaahhhh...!"

Two fingers became three fingers... then finally four... each pumping together into Fox's tight, moist heat. Her hips bucked, meeting each thrust of Elisa's pressing digits. Slowly the speed increased, and the pressure built... Elisa's fingers rubbed deeper, pushing down as hard and as far as they could manage, wiggling...

Fox's scream of release emptied into Elisa's mouth, as the dark haired woman kissed her again with fierce, possessive passion ...drinking in the following whimpers of disbelief from the writhing red head as those tireless fingers continued to milk another orgasm from her trembling depths. Hips jerking spastically, Fox fainted for the third time

Aphrodite sighed, as the scene in the mirror shifted once more... Her hands stroked herself intimately, complimenting her growing arousal. Wind whirled around her, whipping her golden tresses wildly against her bared flesh. She arched into the stinging sensation, purring as a dark haired man corelesced behind her. The frowning visage of the fay lord reflected in Oberon's mirror, so like that of the dark haired maiden lost in pleasure with Titania's half breed daughter.

"You are playing a dangerous game, cousin. Even your obvious charms won't sway Oberon's wrath when he finds you've been meddling in human affairs." Coyote noted, eyes locked on the entwined bodies writhing in the mirror's glass.

"Really, cousin? And who will tell him of my amusements? You?" Aphrodite laughed, a sound like glass chimes.

"The Maza line is important to me. By what reason would I not unveil your betrayal?" the Cloud Father asked, suspicious of Aphrodite's continued mirth.

"Because I am not breaking Oberon's edict, trickster. And your drawing Oberon's attention to this new game of mine... It would be more to your detriment than my own, should he have cause to look too closely at the _human_ line you are so concerned with. Is that not true... cousin?" she purred, slipping closer to the darker fay, so that she was all but whispering in his ear, "Oberon himself considers those descended of our kind to be other than... human. No matter how their mortal shells yields to Time's dark caress."

Coyote was silent.

"Be of good cheer cousin. I mean no harm to yon sweet cubs. Should you but lend yourself to my play, we could both find satisfaction." Aphrodite cajoled, eyes flashing with humor, "Come, surely this situation should appeal to your nature, cousin. But say you will not work athwart me, and you are welcome to tarry.'

"And make merry?" Coyote replied, archly, pulling Aphrodite close against his chest, dark eyes glinting with interest.

"Is it true what they say about Tricksters?" she asked archly, rubbing a hand suggestively up his now bared thigh...

Demona waited for the sun to set. Her pale human face set with determination. She realized now what she had to do. The terms of the spell were very specific, and included the only way out available. She would do what was necessary. But in her own way.

Come sunset, she'd head to the heart of her problem. And heaven help Elisa Maza then...

Here ends the first chapter of the Immortal Blood Saga  
Comments and Feedback are very much welcome.  
See you soon for chapter two!

* * *

**Chapter 2: Chapter 2 Captives**

* * *

Captives  
by Mooncatx

_the Bliss Crimson_

**PREVIOUSLY ON GARGOYLES**

_*Elisa undercover to Dracon*_

_"... Power, money, good lawyers. You kidnap two cops and you're out on bail. Business as usual. Kind of makes me wonder what's the point."_

_*Dracon to Elisa as he is arrested*_

_Tony Dracon: "We could have been great together"_

_*On the clock tower with Goliath*_

_Elisa: "I guess the corrupt are the first to believe that somebody else can be corrupted. And its not impossible. None of us are perfect. That's why we need protection. Even from ourselves sometimes."_

\- **Protection**

_*Glasses taunts Brode*_

_Glasses: "You get rid of me, there's a hundred tough guys waiting to take my place. Dracons have owned this town for three generations."_

_*Elisa stops Brode from shooting Dracon*_

_Tony Dracon: "Well, well. Nice to see you again, Sugar."_

_Elisa: "Prison suits you Tony"_

**\- Turf**

_Coyote 1.0 : "But it's such a shame to see you beaten by the Gargoyles when there's so many resources at your disposal... For example, have you ever considered the bounties of genetic engineering? Or maybe cybernetics is more your style..."_

_Jackal: "I'm sure tired of taking punishment. And I'd love to be able to give some back. What's the catch?"_

_Coyote 1.0: "Please, it's all compliments of the hard working men and women of Xanatos Enterprises."_

_*Hyena rides on Lex's back, prepared to strike a fatal blow*_

_Hyena: "Never liked thrill rides, they always end too soon."_

\- Upgrade

**********  
**With his venom, irresistible, and bittersweet**  
**that loosener of limbs, Love,**  
**reptile-like strikes me down**

**Here I lie mournful with desire,**  
**feeble in bitterness of the pain gods inflicted upon me**  
**stuck through the bones with love**

**-Sappho Fragments-**  
**********

**A Thousand And One Years Ago...**

She took the golden fruits gingerly, as if they might shift in her hands into something unclean. Their sparkled filled her hands with cold light. How wholesome they appeared, eternally sweet and succulent... promising all things to any who would dare eat of their enchanted flesh.

"Remember, the apples' virtue is not permanent. The mortal realm will eat away at the magic, as it does all things taken too long from Avalon. It will last only centuries. You might stretch it out... if you are willing to make sacrifices." the golden haired fay spoke carelessly, walking away, towards the white sand of Avalon's shore, the milky whiteness of her flesh seemed to melt into the sea foam when she reached the water, "When the last of the fruit is gone, you'll have to find another way to hold what you desire."

She watched Aphrodite dissolve from view, the last of the Greek and Roman cousins to leave at Oberon's command. Her own Norse kin had almost deserted the island as well. It was skirting disaster to linger too much longer. Already the the three Sisters were making the barge ready for their own departure... and before their leave taking they would scour Avalon of any of the remaining Children.

There was a sound like thunder. Had it already begun?

But no, as her gaze lifted, she saw it was only a familiar eight legged steed who galloped across the Rainbow Bridge. Across the sky, the black stallion shape of her brother taking his leave filled her with bittersweet memories. Even the beast kin were leaving Avalon, as all the fay blooded were bid.

Heading towards the Bridge, she bit into the first fruit...

**************  
**Four Weeks Ago...**

Tony Dracon smiled at his visitor, noting how the prison guard shivered and pulled away as the cool blonde passed him.

Silver gilt hair in a thick braid that fell down her back and past a slender waist, setting off her fine boned patrician features, and fashion model sleek body. Ordinarily, a chick like this would be heating men up, not making them feel... chilled. Dracon hid the trickle of unease he felt, and slouched in the chair on his side of the visitation partition.

"So what can I do for you honey bunch?" he asked, letting his eyes drift lazily over expensively clad curves, up to the arctic pale eyes set in a coldly beautiful face.

She slid gracefully into the chair on the other side of the glass partition, smoothing out the white linen of her skirt with unconscious elegance.

"Consider me an old friend of the family, Mr. Dracon. And I'm here about certain business interests that are difficult to maintain during your... absence."

Even her voice was chilly. Not that she was trying to be hostile, but like she couldn't help but speak like a breath of winter.

"Well now, sweet heart, I do what I can. But a man can only accomplish so much when he's being unduly detained." he said with a casual shrug, "But what's it to you?"

"And if you were no longer... detained?" she asked, one brow arched in question.

"Well then, all things are possible." Dracon said, steepling his fingers, and watching his visitor through narrowed eyes, "Miss... ?"

She tilted her head slightly, as if to consider what name to give. Dracon doubted she would give him her real one, but he wanted something to call the icy beauty. Some tag that would make her more accessible. More human.

"Hel. You can call me Hel."

**************  
**A Few Hours Ago**

The sun's scarlet descent was greeted by hoarse screams of agony, as Demona felt her entire body shudder, and change. Soft naked human flesh strained, stretched, all but ripped apart as her gargoyle wings flared outwards. The firmer flesh of her true form replaced her more vulnerable human hide in a wash of familiar pain. But the worst torment came from within, as bones and muscles reknit themselves, returning to Demona the physical power that was her birthright.

And then it was over, as suddenly and as shockingly as it had begun. Where once the human form of Dominique Destine had stood, there was now the true gargoyle body of Demona.

"Someday I'm going to fillet Puck" she growled, voice husky with the echo of the pain she'd just endured, "Slowly. And show him how much I appreciate his favor."

Still, for the first time since the original sunset that had heralded her change from her daytime human form, to her true gargoyle body, Demona was glad of the transformation's inherent agony. The severe physical pain had washed the insidious feelings of sexual arousal out of her system. The shameful stirrings that had troubled her body and mind since the meeting with Xanatos were now mercifully quiet...

_No respite, and no release_  
_Your passions sate or know no peace_

Her tail lashed, striking the floor with the force of a blow. She should have known the spirit was kin to Puck by the cursed way it spoke in verse. Another child of Oberon to make her existence miserable.

"You think you are so clever." Demona hissed to the empty air, "But you can not force me to love a human, much less _that_ human."

With movements made rough by her barely restrained rage, Demona donned her normal halter and loin cloth. The cool metal of her head band in place, she glanced at her reflection in the black glass wall of her _special_ room. Yes, that was much better. Reaching out, she touched the glass just so, and it opened to reveal a deeply recessed set of shelves, full of every manner of weapons. From spears and tridents that would have looked at home in the arenas of ancient Rome, to the latest proto-types of particle beam weapons. If it could kill, she collected it. And if she had her way, she would use some of her collection tonight.

There were all kinds of passions, Demona thought grimly.

Her hand went out to touch the coiled, tightly braided leather of a bull whip. A graceful talon stoked the serpentine plaything, while she imagined it's sinuous black length wrapped tight around the tender golden hide of Goliath's little playmate. It would be a pretty contrast. The oiled dark leather pressed against Elisa's fragile human skin... That wanton wench's dark eyes widening with apprehension as she was held captive... helpless... utterly vulnerable to whatever Demona wanted to do to her.

Moist heat gathered between Demona's thighs...

Fox sighed, rapturously content in the cradle of her lover's arms. From famine to feast, she thought, feeling like a cat who'd been locked in with the cream. The sultry beauty holding her had coaxed the former Pack member's highly responsive body to pleasure... time after time. Relentlessly bringing Fox to the brink of ecstasy ... then with wicked delight, thrusting the fire haired beauty screaming over the edge.

"Are you sure you've never been with a woman before?" Fox asked, lifting a hand to stroke a soft, dusky cheek, "You lovemaking skills seem... exceptional."

Elisa Maza smiled, her hand coming up to cover Fox's. She turned her head and placed a kiss on the pale, graceful fingers she'd captured.

"I know what I like done to me. I'm glad you enjoyed being on the receiving end." she told the woman who only hours ago she'd considered an adversary, "But if you have any pointers you'd like to show me..."

Helpless laughter bubbled up from Fox. She was half sure that any moment she'd wake to find out this was all some kind of erotic dream. But the warm press of Elisa's naked body against her own dispelled that thought with each gentle shift of breath. Leaning forward, Fox kissed Elisa with slow, tender thoroughness.

"I'd like to show you a few things, Elisa Maza, " she whispered, pulling back with a sigh, "Let me stay the night, and you'll get all the pointers you can handle."

Matt Bluestone's night began with a call from his partner.

"I'll make it up to you Matt, honest."

Elisa's promise did little to ease the tension setting into his tight shoulders. Captain Chavez was just getting over her mad from that incident with the reporter for the _Daily Tattler_. The last thing he needed was to slide back into her bad graces by being the one to tell her Elisa was taking an unplanned personal day. After all the work days Elisa had missed during her Avalon adventures, only a steady stream of double shifts and a willingness to do deep undercover work had allowed Elisa to pull her fat out of the fryer. Maria Chavez liked Detective Maza. Hell, she'd served under Elisa's old man when she'd been just Detective Chavez. But liking Elisa and turning a blind eye to her unexpected absences were two different things.

Matt wished that he and Elisa could come clean to their Captain. She was a good woman. A smart woman. Chavez _knew_ something was going on, but so far she hadn't pressed too hard. If it had been his call to make, Matt would have told their Captain about the Gargoyles long ago. Except that doing that would have put her in a worse position than the one Matt and Elisa were teetering on. That edge between loyalty to their friends, and their duty as law officers. It was an edge Matt feared they crossed over one time too many. Someday it was going to catch up with them, and it wouldn't be pretty.

"Okay Maza, I'll cover for you." Matt answered, "But you know if she finds out... "

"I know, I know... Captain Chavez isn't going to like it Matt." Elisa sighed, resigned to the fact that she'd probably be in Maria's black books in the near future, "But it's just for tonight. I really, _really_ need to take this "personal day".

Matt heard a kind of breathless hitch in Elisa's voice, and wondered just how _personal_ her time off was going to get. Reluctant to pry, he couldn't help but give in to his curiosity.

"This doesn't have anything to do with certain winged friends, does it?"

"No."

Was it Matt's imagination, or did Elisa sound... guilty? It wouldn't be the first time she'd kept something important hidden from her partner. If there was one thing Bluestone had learned about Elisa, it was that she liked to keep her secrets. He knew she trusted him... Matt just wished she would _talk_ to him . But if there was something up, he'd have to trust her to share it when the time was right.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow, Maza."

"Tomorrow." Elisa echoed him, "And Matt? Thanks."

The phone went dead in Bluestone's hand. Staring at it for a long moment, Matt finally put it away with a sigh. He hoped whatever Elisa was mixed up in wasn't too dangerous...

After hearing the line go dead, Elisa wasted no time in stretching out to drop her phone back into it's cradle, on the nightstand beside her bed. In doing so, she left the bare bronzed flesh of her back unprotected, and vulnerable to attack...

Which came in the form of Fox's blowing softly on the exposed skin, sending a series of exquisite shocks through Elisa's body as the soft caress of breath was soon followed with teasing kisses starting at the base of her spine, and working up. The trailing fall of Fox's autumn colored hair slid against Elisa's skin, an added sensual caress. Elisa soft exhalations of pleasure encouraged bolder attentions.

As Fox continued to explore Elisa's nakedness with her mouth, the fingers of her of her pale, graceful hands slid up along the silken column of Elisa's inner thighs. The tantalizing touches continued until detective Maza was squirming under Fox's erotic attention, her hips lifting up to provide unhindered access to the soft, plump outer lips of her sex. Fox's mouth had reached the sensitive nape of the Elisa's neck, and a tender nip caused the dark haired detective to whimper softly, and dampen with her growing arousal.

A slender finger sank into her sex from behind, testing her readiness.

"Ahhhh.." Elisa cried out as Fox swirled the exploring finger.

"You are so very tight, Elisa." Fox's voice purred intimately in response to the detective's whimper, "How long has it been?"

Elisa's answer was lost in a gasp of shock as Fox's finger left the tight wet warmth to travel further up... and rub gently against the taboo area there.

"Mmmm... I bet this is still virgin." Fox teased.

"Fox!" Elisa wiggled in reaction to the unfamiliar sensation of being touched on her other opening.

"Did you know this is one of the most sensitive spots on the human body?" Fox continued conversationally, continuing a gentle circling massage of the area in question, "more nerve endings are concentrated here than any other point of contact."

Elisa felt hidden muscles twitch in reaction to Fox's words. It was true, she'd never had a lover take her anally before. Those who had wanted to she'd discouraged. Part of her had always believed that such an unnatural act couldn't be pleasurable. But Fox's experienced touch gave lie to that long held idea. So far there were only gentle, teasing strokes, but it was enough to spill an unaccustomed warmth through Elisa's nether regions.

"If you want, Elisa, I can to show you... lovely things." Fox murmured into Elisa's ear, before moving to kiss the soft spot just below the earlobe.

Elisa's breath let out in a trembling sigh. The stimulation was far from unpleasant, and if the detective had one begetting sin, it was her endless curiosity.

"I want." she said, turning her head just enough so that she could meet Fox's soft coral lips with her own, brushing an inviting kiss over them.

Owen finished his report to Xanatos, his usual cool demeanor unruffled by the squirming infant that burbled and cooed in his arms.

"And she isn't back yet?" his darkly handsome employer asked again.

Raising an eyebrow, Owen's dry regard was answer enough. Usually Xanatos didn't repeat himself needlessly, but tonight he had been in as strangely an uneasy mood as Fox had been before she'd left. It was not Owen's place to pry into the relationship between Xanatos and his wife, but the aura of sexual frustration was as apparent to Owen's sharply assessing gaze as a neon sign. Which was odd, because he could have sworn that Fox and David Xanatos had a fairly enthusiastic love life, and only last night had indulged in several rather athletic expressions of their physical love.

He made a note to himself that teaching young Alex how to scrye would have to more carefully timed. Last night's exercise had been far more illuminating than Owen considered appropriate. Even though his more puckish side had thought it all highly amusing.

"Sir, if there is a problem I should know about?" Owen ventured, trying to understand why Xanatos had canceled the tour of his business holdings that he should be leaving for even now.

"Owen... " Xanatos paused for a moment, eyes thoughtful, "I don't know. Let's say I just had a very... interesting... meeting with Demona. And I would like to make sure my wife is available if events should get complicated."

"Complicated, sir?" Owen asked, studiously ignoring the slight tenting in his employer's Armani pants, but not before he'd seen it increase when Demona's name was mentioned.

"Yes, I believe that's the word for it." Xanatos said, his eyes dark with unspoken feeling.

"Hmmm... I think I have something you'd like." Elisa said mysteriously, reaching past a curious Fox, to lean over the edge of the bed.

Fox took the opportunity to admire the warm caramel gold of Elisa's naked body. Like burnt sugar and cream. Her mouth beginning to water, Fox contemplated sucking on Elisa like a candy, until the sweet detective melted in her mouth.

Elisa, oblivious to Fox's hungry gaze, finally dragged out a small wooden chest, hardly bigger than a shoe box, from beneath the bed. Fox looked at it perplexed, but her puzzlement only lasted until Elisa flipped the box open, revealing a small selection of toys. Adult toys.

"Mmmm... yes. I think this will do." Elisa murmured, pulling free the long, bullet shaped form of a silver hued vibrator.

It was the kind of vibrator sold in novelty shops as "muscle massagers", and Fox had a good idea what muscles Elisa intended to massage with the sleek, shiny toy.

"Hmmm...?" Elisa's voice rose in question as she gently tapped the tapered tip of the vibrator against the red head's hip.

Fox smiled, and reached out both to take the offered plaything, and to capture Elisa's mouth in another kiss. As their tongues engaged in an erotic duel, the mechanical hum of the toy filled the room. At first, Elisa jumped at the cool, shivery touch of the device when Fox let it glide over over her ticklish ribs, her reflexive laughter captured by Fox's hot, possessive kiss. But the vibrations felt so nice, the ticklish shock soon faded.

Taking a more aggressive role, Fox pressed Elisa back into the bed sheets, insinuating an insistent knee between the police detective's silken thighs. Obediently, Elisa opened her legs, and with a certain boldness, reached down to help spread herself open, giving Fox unrestricted access to the revealed sex. The moist ruddy interior was an exotic tropical flower, and Fox's purr of appreciation made Elisa flush, giddy with sexual heat.

"Beautiful." Fox murmured, leaning down to sample the tender, juicy flesh.

The touch of Fox's mouth to her most intimate self was simply astonishing. Elisa's head lolled back, her eyes closing as she gave in to the lovely, voluptuous feeling of Fox's oral love making. Only a few of Elisa's short list of male lovers had the both the will, and the skill at giving this exquisite carnal caress. Some of them had been good... great even. But Fox's mouth didn't feel just great... that word paled in describing the way she touched Elisa.

Elisa lost all sense of time and place, only the sensation of Fox's mouth on her, in her, consuming her... existed.. Elisa felt her interior muscles tighten, and her hips lifted without conscious thought. Soft pleading cries spilled from her throat, as Fox sucked on the tender pearl of intimate flesh coaxed from it's protective hood. Then the warm, wet heat of Fox's tongue moved away, and Elisa gasped in sensual shock as cool breaths teased her excited clit.

"Please..." she heard herself beg, her hands buried themselves in the bright sunset silk of Fox's hair, "please...!"

The pure desperation in her own voice frightened Elisa, but not as much as the thought of Fox leaving her unfinished. The terrible need stroked to a fever pitch, Elisa would go mad if it were not quenched.

"Well, isn't this a pretty sight." A dangerously familiar voice intruded on Elisa's awareness.

Elisa's eyes blinked open, confused... Her senses too dazed to react with more than stunned immobility as Fox was struck from behind, felling the woman with a single blow.

Too late she began to move in response to the unexpected threat. The intruder moved with a predator's quickness, and Elisa's vision went dark...

*******  
**Moments Earlier**

She'd entered silently this time. Stealth instead of a showy display of strength. Last time she had crashed through the sky light and shot the black haired police woman where she stood. It had been simple, savage, and quite satisfying. But ultimately a wasted effort. Elisa Maza had somehow escaped her poisoned attack unscathed. Now Demona was determined to take the human woman unawares, quietly. No mistakes.

The balcony window was not even locked. Obviously Elisa left it unlatched so that her winged paramour would have easy access to her apartment. How convenient. Demona simply pushed open the ready entrance and stepped quietly into the apartment. Her equipment ready, she padded towards the human's bed chamber, prepared to take the target swiftly...

The sounds of desperate female pleading warned Demona that her prey was not alone. Those strange breathy cries went straight to that tight, hot place beneath the gargoyle's loincloth. Even though she was furious at the thought that the slut might even now be entertaining Goliath in her human bed, Demona felt herself grow moist and excited. Beneath her halter, the buds of her nipples swelled and hardened, pressing out visibly through the thin fabric. Her wings quivered slightly, and she had to consciously keep her tail from lashing in excitement, and possibly alerting her prey. The door was ajar, and cautiously Demona peered into the boudoir, and blinked in disbelief at the scene before her.

That wasn't Goliath in bed with Elisa. It was Fox.

Fox Renard... Xanatos.

Demona hadn't seen the flame haired mercenary since the farce of a marriage that had brought Goliath to her with the other half of the Phoenix Gate. Only... it wasn't exactly a farce after all. David Xanatos had married Fox in truth that day. And if reports were true, theirs was supposedly a love match. As much as a human like Xanatos could love. Their marriage bed had been fertile, they'd had a son together.

And now David's wife was in Elisa Maza's bed, the both of them lost in each other's naked flesh. Her plans momentarily forgotten, Demona watched fascinated as Elisa pleasured Fox. Despite her hatred for all humans, the scene was not without certain... appeal. The contrast of their bodies was oddly pleasing, and they moved well together. Elisa's dusky gold flesh was dark against the naturally cream pale complexion of a natural red head. Not that Demona had ever wondered, but she saw clearly that Fox came by her flame color without artifice. As Elisa's long, slender fingers sank past the plump lips beneath the soft copper "v", Demona felt her inner muscles tighten in erotic sympathy. Fox made keening noises in just the same frequency of a gargoyle in heat.

Demona fought the urge to keen as well, watching Elisa fuck the red haired vixen with her hand, gradually increasing speed and pressure. Watching the Xanatos bitch quiver and thrash... hearing her cry out...

Her breath grew tight in her chest, and Demona pulled away from the scene, leaning against the wall outside the bedroom, trying to regain her composure. It took long moments before her nerves calmed. The painful clarity that had come after her transformation from human to gargoyle had eroded rapidly. Demona didn't think she could keep herself in a state of perpetual agony, no matter how great her hatred for the Maza woman. No, there was no other answer for this miserable situation than to do what she'd come here for.

But... the other woman... Fox was a complication.

Obviously the love spell had been muddled somehow, and the wrong Xanatos had been pulled into the mix. Either that or Elisa was keeping more salacious secrets than Demona could credit her for. Demona had meant to take Elisa without the rest of the Clan discovering who had their little friend, but if she took Elisa but left Fox, that could ruin everything.

And if she killed the woman... ?

More complications than Demona wanted to even think about. And... The idea of snuffing out Fox's life was oddly distasteful. It would be such a waste...

Demona was so lost in thought, she did not register the other presence until the sudden sharp pain rendered her helpless... She fell into waiting arms without even the chance to cry out defiance... or a warning.

********  
**Much Too Late...**

Goliath's wings lifted, allowing him to land on Elisa's balcony with practiced ease. He had hoped to find her home, but the quiet darkness of the loft apartment quickly dispelled that notion. Ordinarily, Goliath would have not have entered Elisa's dwelling without her presence, but a strange sense of foreboding troubled the gargoyle leader. Matt Bluestone had called the castle when he'd been unable to reach Elisa at her place, and left word with the clan...

Anthony Dracon had been released today.

The moonlight spilled through Elisa's living room, illuminating the deserted abode as Goliath paced through the room, his ebon wings a trailing cloak.

The shimmer of discarded silk caught his searching eye, and his talons reached for the abandoned dress. Elisa did not usually leave her clothes littered on the ground. For as long as he'd known her, the New York police detective had been almost obsessively neat.

And Goliath did not remember her wearing anything like this before. Though he was no follower of human fashion, the dress was of rich cloth and even his untutored eye could see it was expensive... and lovely.

Crushing the delicate blue fabric to his face, Goliath inhaled deeply...

His eyes opened in surprise. Not Elisa's scent. But familiar... fresh... clean woman scent... an excited female...

Eyes narrowing grimly, Goliath's dredged his memory. He'd breathed this particular perfume before. When he'd been battling for his life. Against the Pack.

It was then he noticed the other abandoned clothes, marking a trail towards Elisa's bedroom. Delicate bits of lace that caused a curious warmth as Goliath retrieved them, a deep purple flush heating his skin. The scent from them was stronger... arousal.

Then he retrieved the pieces that made his heart thud hard in his chest. A flannel night shirt... Elisa's shirt... Elisa's delicate undergarment... Elisa's rich scent curling through his senses, stroking his desire...

Goliath's loincloth shifted as the heaviness of his cock grew harder, pushing upwards...

Slowly, he pushed open the bedroom door, and looked at the empty, disheveled bedding. His ears picked up a weak humming noise...

Bending down, Goliath picked up the source of the sound, what appeared to be a large silver bullet... It vibrated weakly in his hand for a few moments, faltered... and died. Puzzled, the gargoyle added the device to the clothes bundle and continued to look around. A flash of movement on the edge of his vision had made him tense, and whirl around ready for attack.

It was only Cagney, who rushed to Goliath and mewed pitifully, rising on his hind legs to reach up with forepaw claws snagging on the skin of Goliath's bare thigh.

"Where is your mistress, little one." Goliath's deep voice growled out softly, as he reached down to pick up the disturbed feline.

Elisa moaned, feeling strange, cold hands roughly explore her naked body. Her head ached, and she felt groggy... Harsh rattling motion let her know she was in a vehicle of some sort. As the unfamiliar fingers began to part her thighs, Elisa's eyes snapped open, her memory flooding back.

Screaming, she kicked out, tears of anger leaking from her eyes. Her foot caught Jackal in the gut, and he cursed and fell back. But it did Elisa little good, as other hands grabbed her from behind, held her captive. Something tangled her legs, preventing her from kicking again. The cyborg mercenary, anger and lust in his eyes pulled back a fist to slam into her unprotected stomach. She closed her eyes, bracing for the pain...

The sounds of struggle dragged Fox back to consciousness. The continuing blackness alarmed her, until she realized she was blindfolded. Someone had tied her arms behind her, and attached her wrists to ankles. Subtly, she twisted in her bonds. Biting her tongue, Fox focused on the pain to keep from thrashing about in useless panic. By slowly moving her body just so, she might wiggle free.

She recognized Elisa's voice... Elisa's screams...

Fox tasted blood, but continued to work at loosening her bonds. Rubbing her head against the floor, she managed to push up her blind fold just enough to peer beneath the cloth, Fox blinked to clear her vision. The view wasn't much better without the blind fold in the way. She was in the back of a truck or van, the gloom hardly broken by moonlight seeping through a small back window. Her blood chilled as an unexpected scene resolved before her.

It had been a while since Fox had shared a prison cell with Hyena at Rikers, but not long enough to forget that distinctive profile. If her spiky hair and metallic cyborg accessories hadn't given the demented mercenary away, that maniacal laugh would. Only one thing could bring out that particular tone of pure delight in her one time associate. With sick certainty, Fox's gaze sharpened on the struggling form in Hyena's arms.

Hyena was holding Elisa immobile while her brother Jackal struck at the helpless detective. Choking back curses, Fox fought her feelings of helpless rage and alarm. Grimly, Fox began working on the rest of her bonds...

Elisa took the first blow without crying out, determined not to give her captors any satisfaction. But the second forced a ragged gasp out with the rest of her breath... When the third blow landed, Elisa realized she couldn't play the brave soldier, no matter how much she wanted to. To her own horror, she could hear herself start to sob with the pain, but when Jackal paused in his beating to grope her bare breasts, Elisa lifted her tear stained face to spit in his eye... His back handed slap rocked her head back, and she felt her lip split under the blow. Blood trickled down the side of her mouth.

"Stupid bitch. Don't you have brains enough to know when to just lie back and enjoy it?" Jackal laughed, "The boss may want you in one piece, but that don't mean I can't tenderize you a bit first."

"Maybe you should go easy brother, our new boss has a real hard on for this one. Playing with her is one thing, but we don't want to deliver damaged goods." Hyena purred, rubbing a knee up between Elisa's thighs from behind.

"Oh, I am going easy sister dear, but after all the trouble this little bint and her gargoyle friends have caused us, I think we deserve a little pay back. Besides, what I want won't damage her... much." Jackal grinned.

He opened his hand before Elisa's eyes, waiting for her to focus through the gloom on it before letting the fingers extend, becoming unnaturally long. The digits waved sinuously, bonelessly, and Elisa felt sheer revulsion shiver through her as they stretched out into thin steel cables and looped around her neck, cinching tight around her throat.

With his other hand, the Pack member reached down for his cod piece, flipping open the metallic guard to pull out his meaty flesh.

"Got something here for you Detective," Jackal's lascivious tone sent fresh waves of horror and disbelief through their captive.

"Don't worry," Hyena's breath was hot behind Elisa's ear, as the other half of the brother and sister team licked the detective's cheek, "It's one of the last parts of him that's still all natural. There are a few things that modern technology just can't improve on."

"You two can't be serious." Elisa's voice was shaky, and she struggled desperately against Hyena's steel grip, "Stop! You can't do this!"

"We can't?" Hyena's mad laugh filled the darkened compartment, counter point to the gasping sobs that tore through Elisa when she felt the cybernetic knee begin to rub up against her unprotected sex.

Jackal began to stroke himself, tightening his grip on Elisa's throat when she tried to look away or close her eyes. Unwilling, she watched his flesh grow thicker, longer... stiff.

"We're going to have some fun, sweet heart. Be a good girl, detective and you might have a good time too." Hyena's voice went low and throaty, "And if you aren't a good girl, well... That will just make it even better for us."

"Why are you doing this?" Elisa's voice choked out, hardly able to breath against Jackal's tight noose, "You are mercenaries... "

Elisa's voice trailed off as Hyena shifted her grip, allowing the woman a free hand to reach up and cup Elisa's naked breast, the cold, sharp edges of metallic claws pressing against the tender bud of the detective's dark nipple.

"Oh, we are being well paid to kidnap you. Don't you worry your pretty head about that." Jackal sighed in pleasure as he watched his sister take liberties with their prisoner. His cyber eye enhanced the dim light so that he could drink in every detail. From the detective's chocolate doe eyes, wide with shock, to the menacing caresses his sister lavished on her sweet dusky gold captive.

"But this bit of fun? Ordinarily we don't mix business with fucking, but since our one time leader Fox was working so hard to make you cum when we crashed your party, we decided it would be rude to leave you... hanging." Hyena said as she let her claws trace delicately down the detective's stomach, "Fox used to be Pack after all, and Pack mates share."

"Stop. Please stop." Elisa hated to plead, but she was unable to stop herself.

"Oh no, Detective Maza. We wouldn't think of it" Jackal's tone went unbearably hearty as he moved forward, his meat pressing forward against Elisa's thigh.

He felt himself grow harder, feeling his sister's sharp fingers push apart the outer pussy lips of their captive. Jackal could almost feel himself sinking into the tight wet heat of the dark haired cunt. Almost hear this succulent morsel's wails of protest as he pumped in hard and fast, using his cybernetic enhancements to help hammer his meat deep into her resisting pussy.

"Please don't, please." Elisa was babbling now, trying to shift away from the cock that was pressing up against her unprotected sex, "Stop! Someone stop this! Please, make it stop..."

Her words dissolved into hiccuping sobs...

Laughing, Jackal adjusted his stance so he could plunge into her with one savage stroke...

From the shadows behind him, something snaked out, curling tight around Jackal's neck, crushing it. His sudden scream of surprise was quickly choked off, and he released his grasp on Elisa to pull desperately at the strangling grip on his on throat.

"Jackal! Fuck! Didn't you secure the beast's tail!" Hyena snarled, her hand extending a set of large razor sharp blades.

Before she could slash out at the blue coils choking her brother, they loosened and whipped forward, the tapered tip snapping hard at Hyena's face. She fell, her blades knocking against the floor of the van with a screeching clash of metal against metal. Jackal took the chance to drag himself, gasping for breath, out of the reach of the lashing tail.

A familiar, panther like yowl filled the compartment.

Elisa collapsed to the floor, shaking, choking back sobs as she scanned the darkness for the source of her rescue. Two glowing red eyes met her own.

"Demona...?"

Jackal was helping his sister to rise, and Elisa felt a wave of sickness wash over her, aware the cyber enhanced siblings still had the advantage. The looks on their faces were savage... ugly. Hyena was raising her arm, and the red glow of a sighting laser shining from her palm told Elisa that the mad woman meant to end things permanently. Elisa was struggling to rise to her feet, ready to die fighting, when the ride came to a sudden screeching halt, throwing every one off balance.

In moments the doors of the van opened up, spilling moonlight into the interior. A tall, dark man stood there, a look of disgust on his face. Pushing up his glasses with a free hand, his voice cut through the sounds of confusion.

"Can't I leave you mechanized freaks alone for a second? Jackal, is there a reason why your dick hanging out?" His voice hardened, "What did I tell your mercenary metal asses? Don't mess with the merchandise! Dammit, you went and got blood all over her face."

"Glasses." Elisa choked out, bringing up a hand to check her bruised throat.

Tony Dracon's right hand man smiled at her, just as he had while Hyena had knocked out Fox back at her apartment...

"Fox!" Elisa turned and saw the flame haired woman on the floor of the van, also naked. She was roped like calf for branding and blindfolded.

Her body lay so still... Elisa felt ice constrict on her heart, until she saw signs that Fox was breathing .

"Yes, I would have known her even if the demented duo here hadn't identified her." Glasses said, as he gestured to Hyena to hoist up Fox and carry her out of the van, "Can't mistake that carrot colored hair, and blue spot she's got over her eye. You know, my sister's kids used to watch her TV show all the time, up until she got herself arrested. Shame the way all these TV folks turn to crime. Sets a bad example for the children."

"Why have you kidnapped us?" Elisa asked, ignoring the taunting tone of Dracon's flunky, "You can't possibly think you can get away with this."

"Detective Maza, you wound me. This isn't a kidnapping, it's an invitation. One you can refuse if you want." Glasses said, reaching out a hand to help her from the vehicle.

Elisa stared at the outstretched palm in disbelief.

"Oh, your thinking, 'why would they go to all this trouble, then just let me go?'" Glasses chuckled, "It's simple really. You can leave, and I'll even give you a shirt, so you won't be picked up on an indecency charge."

His eyes traveled slowly over her nakedness. Elisa refused to give him the satisfaction of trying to hide her nudity with her hands, even though her skin crawled under his appreciative gaze.

"But without your company, who knows what will happen to your playmate? Our newest employees have quite a history with her, and they are just dying to renew their acquaintance. Pity they are so rough when they play. It would be such a shame if that cute carrot top got... damaged... during her stay with us. A damn shame. And then there is the video... "

"Video?" Elisa asked, a sick feeling in her stomach.

"Yes. Of you and your foxy girlfriend. Or should I call her Mrs. Xanatos? Jackal got quite an eyeful of you two earlier. Isn't great how his cybernetic eye can digitally record whatever it sees? I'd say that data file would make quite a splash if some degenerate soul posted it on the Internet. One of New York's finest, and the wife of our most notoriously wealthy citizen. Oh, and she's a new mother too, isn't she? You know how the press loves to get these intimate details of the lives of the rich and famous."

"You sick bastard." Elisa spat, trembling with rage and disgust.

"That's my baby. I think you know the score now." Glasses chuckled, and pulled out a gun.

"What's that for?" Elisa asked, her anger mixing with alarm.

"For your other girlfriend. A pity we didn't get any scenes of her with you, but we just couldn't take the chance of waiting for her to join your little love fest." Glasses explained, aiming into the back of the van, and firing off several shots.

Screams of inhuman rage blasted out, but continuing shots soon silenced them. Elisa watched with sick expectation as Jackal dragged out a familiar form. Limp and motionless in her shackles, her blue skin splattered with her own blood, crimson stains on the rent cloth of her halter.

"Demona." Elisa knew it could only have been her, but seeing her long time enemy's bullet ravaged body was still a horrific shock.

"She's a wild card. Too dangerous. The rich bitch socialite we can put on the same leash as you, detective. But this winged freak? She's as good to us dead as alive, and a lot less trouble this way."

Elisa listened with dazed horror, her mind latching onto one important fact. They didn't know about Demona's immortality.

Glasses didn't know it yet, but he was in deep, deep shit. When Demona revived, she would probably rip him apart. A fiercely dark corner of the detective's heart wanted to be there to help

Goliath strode through the hallways of the castle, bellowing out the name of his supposed ally.

"XANATOS!"

The name reverberated through the stone walls, like the rolling of thunder. It also drew Owen, the Xanatos manservant from the shadows. He appeared as if by magic.

"Goliath. May I remind you that there are people in residence who do not appreciate your roars? Including a child of less than a year who I have just laid to sleep?"

"Owen," Goliath tempered his voice to a less booming roar, but it was no less intense for it's subdued volume, "I seek your master. Where is Xanatos?"

"Here."

David Xanatos walked like a king, sure of his place in the world, as a sovereign. But for all his regal arrogance, Xanatos was but a man, and a worried man at that.

"What do you want Goliath? I... " his words trailed off as he noticed the tightly wadded cloth in Goliath's hand, "Where did you get that?"

David reached out for the crumpled dress, and Goliath allowed him to take it. The blue silk fluttered like a fallen banner.

"This was at Elisa's apartment. But Elisa was not. She did not go to work tonight, and no one has heard from her since she talked to Matt several hours ago. He's been trying to get ahold of her all night." Goliath's voice was a half accusation as he stared at Xanatos, "Can you explain this?"

"This is Dolce Gabbana. I didn't think Detective Maza's wardrobe included couture fashion." Xanatos answered, his voice distracted, his mind refusing to make the obvious connection.

"This is not Elisa's garment." Goliath's voice was rumbled threat.

"I believe this woefully mangled dress belongs to Fox." Owen spoke, his dry voice belying the worry in his cool blue eyes, "She was wearing it when she left this afternoon, to see Detective Maza."

His employer's fist tightened on the blue silk, dark eyes growing darker.

"Xanatos. Where is your wife?" Goliath asked, his voice strangely gentle, reading the other man's unspoken fear.

Fox continued to play possum in hopes of catching Hyena unaware. The bonds on her wrists and ankles were now loose enough she could slip out of them... but the long time she'd spent bound had cut off her circulation, weakened her limbs. Fox needed some time for her blood to start moving again and restore her full range of movement. Patience...

Hyena tossed her former leader ungently into a waiting metal cage.

"I heard the change in your breathing while we were having fun with Maza." Hyena laughed, "Don't bother pretending. Your hubby's cybernetic gifts never stop being useful."

"You bitch." Fox's breath hissed out of her, as she felt Hyena's extended claws cut the blind fold from her, the cloth falling to the floor of her prison.

"Don't be that way, Fox. My enhanced hearing even picked up the way your heart sped into overdrive while we were entertaining your... lover. Didn't think you had a thing for cops, does your husband know?"

"You leave David out of this." Fox spat, glaring at her captor, "Where have they taken Elisa?"

"Oh, don't worry about your little cop friend. She's having a meeting with the new boss. I'm sure he's going to treat her real nice."

Hyena reached down to tweak one of Fox's soft pink nipples, pinching until her captive's breath hitched with the discomfort.

"But don't worry, I'll keep you company while she's gone."

Elisa stumbled as Glasses pushed her forward into the well lit corridor. The clinical, cop part of her mind told her the numbness she felt was from shock. The rest of her didn't care. Fox was no where to be seen, and neither was Hyena. Elisa tried to fight down the rising feeling of nausea when she thought of what that rabid animal might be doing to her new lover. Jackal was still in sight, carrying Demona's limp body over his shoulder. Elisa forced herself to focused on the soft crimson wave of the female gargoyles hair, the way it swayed as Jackal increased his pace.

Why had she done it? Demona made no secret of how much she loathed and despised humans in general, and Elisa in particular. Yet the one gargoyle that Elisa considered an enemy had put herself at considerable risk to strike down Jackal just as he'd been about to... Elisa's thoughts skittered away from the memory, and she had to force herself to keep walking, instead of collapsing to the ground in a shivering puddle. Demona... think about Demona...

Demona could have waited. A warrior with a thousand years of experience, she must have known escape would have been easier if she'd waited for a more opportune time to strike out at their captors. All she would have to have done was allow Jackal and Hyena to... To have allowed them to...

Why had she done it? Why had she even been in Elisa's apartment in the first place? Spying? If the gargoyle had been there while Fox was...

Had Demona been watching them...?

Despite all that had happened so far, Elisa felt a flush rise through her body. Her chilled flesh welcomed the odd warmth, embarrassing though it was.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, it took her a moment to realized they'd entered a spacious, well appointed meeting room. Comfortable leather chairs loosely around a richly polished oak table, a huge projection style tv screen at the head. It wouldn't have looked out of place in a very affluent business boardroom. Elisa wasn't surprised to see the dark haired man waiting for them.

"Nice to see you again, Sugar."

Elisa's eyes narrowed. Dracon knew how she hated to be called that.

"Sorry I can't say the same, Tony." she replied, slipping into their old banter with disturbing ease.

Elisa felt she should sound different, act different. But even standing naked and bloodied before the man she'd spent her career trying to put away, Elisa took comfort in their age old animosity. Anthony Dracon was scum of the Earth. A low life criminal from a line of criminals. But in some strange sense of proprietorship, Elisa had always considered him to be _her_ criminal.

"Shouldn't you be in prison?"

"Would you believe early parole for good behavior?" Dracon grinned, teeth as white as the streak in his hair, "Our legal system. Got to love it."

"Don't you know kidnapping and assaulting a police officer are parole violations?" Elisa asked, tilting her head, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I do apologize, Detective Maza. When I told my new associates I wanted to speak with you, I'm afraid they got a little too enthusiastic. I didn't want them to harm you. In fact, I gave orders to that effect."

Dracon's voice actually sounded sincere. The mob boss shot Jackal a hard look. The mercenary just shrugged, and shifted the wieght of his bloodied burden. Dracon's expression went stony, but he turned his attention from the hired help and stepped towards Elisa, pulling off his tailored jacket. He paused as she began to retreat.

"Easy Maza. I just wanted to lend you something to wear. But if you prefer to stay au natural, I certainly won't complain."

"Dracon, I'd walk naked through a blizzard rather than accept anything from you." Elisa's voice conveyed her disgust, but she reached out for the offered jacket, "But I am not about to give your goons any more of a free show than I can help."

"Elisa, would it kill you to be nice to me?" Tony Dracon asked, stepping closer as she wrapped the jacket tight against her waist, holding it in place with her crossed arms..

"Why, are you threatening to kill me if I'm not?" she shot back, refusing to retreat, despite the shivers that ran through her as he circled her, moving close behind her.

"No Elisa. I didn't bring you here to threaten you." Dracon said, his voice growing strangely soft.

"Then why am I here?" she asked, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach as Dracon wrapped his arms around her gently.

"So I can protect you."

Elisa laughed. It was too much! She could hear the hysterical edge in her voice but couldn't stop.

"Protect me? You? And why would you want to do that Tony Dracon? I've dedicated myself to putting you in prison for life."

"A life you've risked your own to save. I don't forget things like that Maza, and I make good on my debts." Dracon's embrace tightened as Elisa's laughter shifted into sob edged accusations...

"So you repay me by kidnapping me and having your thugs... " she felt her breath constricting in her chest, and began to struggle against Dracon's hold, "Did you bring me here so you could try to break me, Tony? Because it's not going to happen!"

"No, Maza. I really did bring you here for your own good. Things in this city... they are going to be getting pretty bad very soon. I wanted you here where I can look out for you." his grip didn't loosen, and Elisa felt her sudden, manic energy drain away.

Without meaning to, she relaxed in Dracon's arms, leaning against his warmth.

"Why, Tony? Don't give me some song and dance about wanting to repay a good deed. It doesn't wash."

"Elisa, despite what you might think, I do have a code of honor. But you're right, this is about more than a good deed." Dracon turned Elisa in his arms until she was looking him in the face, "I had a lot of time to think when I was in prison. A lot of things to consider. Things like family."

"Family?" Elisa frowned in confusion, "You mean the Dracon family?"

"I mean our family." Anthony Dracon said, bringing a hand to her cheek, and stroking back the loose strands of dark hair that had fallen forward, "Yours and mine. If you take my name. You could be a Dracon, Elisa. If you become my wife."

Elisa was oblivious to the surprised exclamations that echoed around the room, Glasses, Jackal... everyone else was forgotten as she stared up into Dracon's eyes, shock reverberating through her entire body.

"You can't be serious!" she broke away from his embrace, backing away.

Glasses moved forward to stop her, but Dracon waved his man back.

"But I am, Elisa Maza. Deadly serious." Tony made no move to follow the dark haired woman, waiting for her to stop when her back met the wall, "But I know this is a bit of a shock to you. I don't want you to make a hasty decision Elisa. You'll be my guest while you consider my offer."

"I don't have to think it over, Dracon! No! How can you even think...!" Elisa sputtered, unable to continue.

Instead she fixed her life long nemesis with a glare.

"There's things you don't know yet, Maza. Factors to consider that might change your mind." Dracon said casually reaching for a remote in his pocket.

He was taking her vehement refusal far too calmly for Elisa's comfort. She flinched as he pointed the device in his hand towards her. Then had to catch her balance as the wall behind her slid open, revealing another room.

"Dracon, why are you disturbing my work?"

She was dressed in a white lab coat, ice blonde hair and cold pale eyes, she looked coolly immaculate amid the laboratory equipment.

"I have a present for you Hel." Dracon said, gesturing for Elisa to follow him into the room.

"Her? I don't need another test subject right now. But I suppose she'll keep for later." Hel looked over Elisa with a critical eye, a pale brow arching over the police woman's curious attire.

"No, not this woman." Tony's voice was sharp, he pointed towards Jackal, who had been surreptitiously trying to leave since Dracon's unexpected proposal to Elisa.

"Hey now, Boss... No harm, no foul, right? I didn't know you were going to propose to Maza..." Jackal continued to edge towards the exit.

"Not you." Dracon's voice hardened, "But don't push it. The monster. Bring it over here for the good doctor."

Jackal's relief was evident, and he carted Demona's body into the other room with a cocky strut, dropping it onto an examination table near the woman.

Elisa could now see how well bound the female gargoyle was. Not only had her wrists and ankles been clamped together in sturdy shackles, but her wings had been clipped tightly together too, metallic rings holding them folded shut. Elisa winced as she realized that the metal clasps pierced through the delicate membranes of Demona's wings with cruel practicality. Even though she and Demona had been bitter enemies, Elisa felt a tightness in her chest to see any gargoyle like this.

"A gargoyle?" Hel didn't seem impressed.

"Sorry we couldn't get you a live one." Tony spoke cheerfully, not sounding at all unhappy with the gargoyle's condition, "But at least the corpse is nice and fresh."

"Corpse?" the blonde woman reached over to push the obscuring scarlet fall of Demona's hair away from her face, "This is no corpse."

"Are you crazy? I filled that winged freak's blue hide full of lead." Glasses protested, "It's got to be dead!"

Pale eyes met his in an icy stare, and Dracon's second in command felt a shiver crawl down his spine... Like someone walking over his grave.

"I am quite familiar with death," Hel's voice was as chill as her smile, "But if you doubt me, come here and undo her bonds."

"Uh... I'll take your word for it." Glasses backed away, eyes shifting away from Dracon's new partner, to the gargoyle beneath her hands.

He jumped back startled when the beast's eyes snapped open, burning red as blood.

"Boss!" Glasses's shouted, reaching for his gun.

"Stupid human! That didn't work the first time!" Demona snarled, her tail snaking out once more, this time wrapping around the blonde woman, dragging the human's body across her own, using her as a living shield, "But if you fire again, you'll hit your friend here, and I'm thinking she might be valuable to you."

"She is an interesting gift, Dracon." Hel said, her voice was speculative, as she lay facing the gargoyle holding her captive, she moved her hand away from Demona's hair, "I think we have an immortal here. That's not usual for gargoyles."

"You are oddly perceptive for a human." Demona said, tightening her grip, "Can you tell what I will do to you if someone doesn't get these manacles off me?"

"You'll try to kill me." Hel smiled, "But you'll try that even if we did release you."

"And that doesn't bother you, human?" Demona demanded, her nerves on edge from the pain in her wings, and her hostage's lack of fear.

"It might. If I were human." Hel said soft enough that her words reached Demona's ears alone, before pressing her hand across the gargoyle's fanged mouth.

Surprised, Demona snarled, her sharp teeth tearing at the soft palm. Something warm and wet trickled into her mouth... oddly bitter for blood...

Demona's tail squeezed convulsively, and Hel winced in it's painful grip, but waited for the release that soon followed.

The gargoyle lay limp once more, her body slack, eyes clouding in confusion as her body refused to obey her.

"What did you do, Hel?" Tony asked, cautiously walking forward.

"A sedative. Just something to keep her nice and relaxed while I prepare her."

"Prepare her?" Dracon asked, coming close enough to help his new partner up from the examination table, "Prepare her for what."

"With such a unique specimen, I have any number of uses for her." Hel spoke with chilling thoughtfulness, "But first things first."

Dracon wasn't a squeamish man, but even he felt a lurch of sickness when his new associate turned a brilliant smile on him.

"I think we'll start with a dissection."

Fox felt tears seep out from beneath her lashes. Hyena licked the salty wetness, following the trail down Fox's cheek, to her delicate jaw line, stopping to nuzzle the tender throat, teeth nipping hard enough to mark.

"Starting without me?" Jackal chided as he entered the cell.

"Just having a small taste, brother dear." Hyena replied, looking up with dreamy eyes.

Jackal wondered what his sister had been doing with Fox in his absence, but decided he was better off not knowing. Sometimes her appetites were too disturbing even for him.

"I see you've changed her bonds." he lifted an eyebrow quizzically.

Fox's arms were now locked behind her in tight leather cuffs, while her slender ankles were cuffed and linked by a chain that restricted her range of movement. She only lacked a collar to make her the picture perfect pet.

"She tried to escape." Hyena's smile was viciously sweet, "She almost made it too. Even unaugmented, Fox is a damn good fighter. But not good enough to over come my cybernetics. I've been showing her some of the other gifts her hubby's tech boys gave me during our last upgrade. Including the pharmaceutical kit. I think she even enjoyed some of it. There's a certain shudder that's unmistakable when you are _very_ intimate."

"I see it's made her nicely compliant. And to think, all this is courtesy of Xanatos Industries." Jackal quipped, admiring the quiver that went through Fox at the mention of her husband's name, "But enough fun and games for now. Dracon wants to see her."

"She wasn't part of our original contract." Hyena said sharply, "He's only paid for Maza. I was thinking we should keep our former leader for ourselves. We could have a lot of entertainment with her before ransoming her back to Xanatos."

"If there's anything left to ransom, " Jackal snorted, "remember last time? We lost a lot of money because _someone_ didn't know when to stop."

"But we had such fun, brother." Hyena laughed, "There's some things money just can't buy."

"Yes, but in this case we do need the cash. We've had too many major losses. Thanks to those gargoyles." Jackal's tone was edged with bitterness, but it lightened as he considered how well the current job was working out, "Dracon is willing to front a bonus for Fox. I think we should take it now. Besides, dealing with Xanatos always costs us more than it gains. This time let's have Dracon take that risk, while we enjoy the more immediate profit."

Hyena considered Jackal's argument. Idly running she ran a hand over Fox's bare hip, admiring the smooth creamy skin a moment, before dragging the sharp tip of a claw lightly across flesh, leaving a fine red line behind.

"You're right, blast it. But that better be a huge bonus." Hyena agreed reluctantly, licking a tiny bead of blood from her claw tip, "I was only getting started. Now I'm all worked up. No ready release in sight either. Dracon's people are off limits, and that ice bitch partner of Dracon's won't let us anywhere near her test subjects anymore."

"Maybe if you hadn't been so enthusiastic with the last one." Jackal smiled, enjoying his sister's horny discomfort for a moment, before offering her the treat he'd been saving, "But you're wrong about Hel's test subjects. She has a brand new one that she's willing to let us play with. Or, as she put it, 'engage in some tolerance testing' "

"You don't say," Hyena said, eyes lighting up with interest, "It's not Maza, is it?"

Fox stiffened at the mention of Elisa, cursing the heaviness of her drugged limbs. The idea of anyone in Hyena's hands for any length of time woke a sickening chasm of dread in Fox. For someone like Elisa to be under those tormenting claws... Her heart beat painfully fast in her chest.

"Unfortunately, no. Dracon wants the cop bitch all to himself. But this will be even better than Maza, sister dear." Jackal grinned, rubbing his hands together with a child like gleefulness.

"Better than the gargoyles' human sidekick?" Hyena's voice was skeptic.

"Oh, much better than a sidekick." Jackal revealed his prize smugly, "How do you fancy a shot at a gargoyle, baby sister?"

"Ooooh..." Hyena's coo of pleasure was all the answer he needed.

Hel watched her new test subject thoughtfully. The blue skin and crimson hair were aesthetically pleasing. This gargoyle seemed more humanoid in appearance than others, her face had a delicate, almost elfin prettiness. And she was pierced through to her very essence with magic. The touch of Oberon's Children clung to her lovely azure hide, different lines mingling together to sink deeply through flesh and soul. It would be an interesting process to riddle out the different enchantments at work.

Even though the gargoyles body lay in relaxed repose, the physical bindings removed, she was more a prisoner now than when she'd been fettered. Only the wildness in her dark eyes betrayed her awareness of the fact.

The wall that separated the meeting room from the lab slid open once more, and Dracon entered.

"So, you've seen to the comfort of your new consort?" Hel asked, remembering the scene only moments before, "A shame that she has such delicate sensibilities."

"She'll sleep off the tranq you gave her by morning." Tony said, voice curt, "I trust your examinations will be concluded by then?"

"These things can't be rushed, Dracon." Hel shrugged, "But you needn't sound so disapproving. You are quick to take advantage of the situation as I. Your new bride might have a weak stomach, but you do not."

"She's a lot tougher than she looks." Dracon warned, "Don't dismiss her so easily. When she wakes up she's going to be fighting mad. Elisa Maza's got more brass than anyone I know."

"You admire that in her. But it's what makes her so resistent to your advances." his new partner observed, reaching into her lab coat's deep pockets, drawing out a small round fruit, "But that's why you need me. To win her to your side. Ours is a give and take relationship, Dracon. You help me with my goals, and I help you with yours. Well if this Elisa Maza is what you desire, then you shall have her."

"What's this?" Dracon asked as she handed him the fruit.

"Many things, Anthony Dracon, many things." Hel said, watching the mob boss examine the golden apple, "To some it would be knowledge, and to others, beauty or long life."

"And to me?" Tony's raised his dark eyes to hers, meeting her pale gaze with a burning intensity.

"Love." Hel spoke quietly, remembering another time and place, "Legendary love."

To be continued...

* * *

**Chapter 3: Chapter 3: TORMENT**

* * *

**Torment**  
**by MooncatX**

**the Bliss Crimson**

**PREVIOUSLY ON GARGOYLES**

_*Matt Bluestone confronts Mace Malone at Flora Dreidel's grave*_

_Matt: "Nobody knew more about Under World dealings than Mace Malone... Thanks to you the Illuminati had the goods to cut themselves in. They've been Organized Crime's silent partner ever since... For a man pushing a hundred, you're amazingly well preserved. How accommodating of the society to provide its senior members with rejuvenation drugs."_

_Mace: "You should see our dental plan."_

**\- Revelations**

_Jackal: "There's nothing like the smell of new meat."_

_Hyena: "Especially when it sizzles!"_

**\- The Green**

**************  
**But it torments my spirit;**  
**Beneath my breath the heart is shaken.**  
**Let me only glance where you are, the voice dies,**  
**I can say nothing, but my lips are stricken to silence,**  
**Underneath my skin the tenuous flame suffuses;**  
**Nothing shows in front of my eyes,**  
**My ears are muted in thunder.**  
**And the sweat breaks running upon me,**  
**Fever shakes my body,**  
**Paler I turn than dying grass**  
**I can feel that I have been changed,**  
**I feel that death has come near me.**  
**-Sappho**

**************  
**Scotland**  
**976 AD**

The hunting was good here. Even though the clan leader had cautioned all the Castle gargoyles not to press too deeply into the forests surrounding Prince Malcolm's lands, the impetuous young female had gone in search of the rare herbs and plants that the Archmage's books mentioned. The ones that would make spell components, and further her nascent sorcerous abilities.

Since "losing" the Phoenix Gate the Archmage had not been inclined to continue her apprenticeship. But she had been a quick study, and already had the basics of spell craft to work on. If she could gather her own supplies, she might even be able to set up her own sanctum.

But grubbing for the shyer vegetation had left her soft blue skin dirt stained, as well as her only clothes. Her nose wrinkled in disgust. She couldn't return to the Castle so soiled. The others would comment, and unwanted questions were sure to be asked. She scowled, unwilling to reveal to her clan her secret ambition to be a magic user. Gargoyles were warriors, and magic was not "the way" of her kind. She'd be ridiculed. Or worse, forbidden to continue with her study of sorcery.

That must not happen. After the things that had been shown to her last year, the young gargoyle was determined to master the magic arts as well as those of war. Her mate's future self had said not to look for the terrible events that her own older self had revealed. But she could not ignore the nightmares she'd had ever since that dark night. The spectre of her rookery brothers and sisters lying shattered, naught but broken stone and dust... How could she forget what she had seen?

But if she were strong enough. Skilled enough. Surely when that terrible fate came to pass she would be able to fight it! And if she had to be a little more... secretive... to accomplish that, then she would do whatever was necessary.

Like taking a bath.

She'd seen a small spring fed pool not far away. The water had glistened silver and ebony beneath the moonlit sky. It would be perfect.

Quickly the young gargoyle female loped through the forest. Later, once she and her clothes were clean, she'd climb the highest tree she could find and glide home, drying on the wing.

With those thoughts in mind, she laid her precious herb bundles to one side of the pool, and stripped out of her halter and loin cloth, taking them with her as she waded into the cool waters. She shivered as the cold wetness rose up her bare thighs, higher with each step. It was strangely exhilarating. When the pond's chilly kiss reached her sex, she gasped in shock, and nascent pleasure. Hmmm... Maybe she would linger a while at her bath, and explore these new, delightful sensations. They were not unlike the feelings that she had when her mate touched her in certain ways...

She smiled, thinking of her love. He was the largest of all her rookery brothers, and the best warrior of the entire clan. Someday, she knew, he would be clan leader. But he was not only battle skilled, but beautiful as well. His skin was the shadow hue of lavender, and his great strength was matched only by the gentleness of his touch. When he called her his Angel, her heart melted within her breast. When his large warm hands slipped beneath her tunic and cupped her breasts, other parts of her melted as well...

Sighing, the young gargoyle closed her eyes and let a taloned hand slip down her wet, naked flesh, imagining it was the touch of her love...

In the brush near the water, two sets of human eyes watched the inhuman creature begin to explore her budding sexuality. Their interest sharpened as the moonlight revealed the female gargoyles lush young curves.

"Yon monster has breasts like any village wench. And a firm young pair they look to be, eh Connel?" the young huntsman muttered to his companion.

"Aye, she may have the wings of a demon, but that body was made for a man's use, sure enough." Connel replied, "I'd say setting our camp here has been a bit of luck. If you be thinking what I am, Corwin."

"A bit of sport? With that? Sure an she's fair to look at, but I hear Prince Malcolm keeps the beasts at his Castle. Might he take it amiss if we tupped his fighting cattle? Not to mention what the priests would say, for coupling with so unnatural a creature." Corwin frowned, but his eyes never left the glistening beauty splashing in the heart of the pond.

Her soft moans filled the night, and her watchers felt their cod pieces become uncomfortably tight.

"I'd say it's worth a few Hail Mary's, Corwin. She's a temptress, for sure, and a wicked creature for all her innocent seeming face." Connel concluded, reaching for the sling shot at his belt, "People say Prince Malcolm risks his immortal soul by consorting with these gargoyles. I say we see for ourselves if the consorting is worth the price."

"And afterwards?" Corwin asked, handing his young lord a steel shot, the metal ball being the size of a child's fist.

"Afterwards we'll do our Christian duty, and dispatch the monster to her maker." Connel said with a toothy grin, "We will be doing our part for Christendom to rid the earth of her sinful, lust inciting kind."

The slung piece of metal struck the gargoyle from behind, connecting at base of her crimson tressed head with a sickening thud...

**Four Weeks Ago**

The Golden Orchard Hospice did not receive visitors. Their few clients were cared for by a quiet and efficient staff, who did their job, and asked no questions.

Curiosity was strictly discouraged.

The ice blonde woman who stalked through the halls was not staff. But by the time security was aware of her presence, she'd already found the man she was looking for.

Room 23 held one occupant, an old man whose thin wisps of white hair were wildly unkempt. His sunken features were more skeletal than warm flesh, and only his unnaturally brilliant stare gave any indication of the what once had been a sharp, clear mind. Rattling at his bathroom's door knob, he had opened and closed it perhaps a hundred times in the last day, alternating between it and the closet door. He moved on to the room's main door. Even though it was locked after sunset, he had to at least try. So he was more surprised to feel it's knob turn in his hand than to see the woman standing on the other side.

"Hello Mace."

Her voice was the cool comfort of the grave as she reached out a pale hand and waited.

"Just one more door." he said, placing his own withered hand in hers, "Just one more door and I'll be free."

**********  
**Now**

Fox shifted in her bonds, cursing the languid slowness of her body's response. What had Hyena doped her with? Something that relaxed her toned and limber body too much for effective combat. At least it wasn't a hallucinogen.

She still had some ability to move, but not quickly enough for the two Pack members who sauntered down the hall way, brimming with excitement over their promised reward. Jackal had swung Fox over his shoulder, one hand holding her legs, while the other wandered over the silky skin and firm roundness of her ass, patting and rubbing as he hummed a familiar tune.

"Must you do that?" Hyena snapped, shooting her brother a disgusted look.

She watched her brother slip his cool, metallic fingers into the valley between Fox's nether cheeks, dragging downwards until he could tease her softly pouting cunt lips. He tweaked the tiny copper curls that dusted the captive's plump sex, and rolled tender flesh between his thumb and forefinger, playing idly with the soft unguarded treasures.

"You've already had a bit of play time with Fox," Jackal grinned, at his sister's frowning face, "I'm just giving her a little something to remember before we turn her over to Dracon."

"Not that you oaf! I wouldn't mind if we took a few moments to give Fox something really memorable." Hyena's eyes slid over the other woman's body with predatory interest, before returning to glare at her brother, "But stop that infernal humming! If I have to listen to the Pack theme song one more time...!"

Fox tried to block out Hyena's snide comments, and Jackal's invasive caresses. Reluctantly, she found her mind drifting back to when Hyena had surprised her with the hypodermic claw tips. She continued to berate herself for not seeing the trap Hyena had laid for her...

The sadistic Pack member had been waiting for Fox to make her move, playing with her former leader like a cat would a mouse. Of course Hyena had suspected that Fox had gotten her bonds loose enough to slip out of them. Fox was a very dangerous woman. That was what gave the game it's spice.

Fox had already lost the element of surprise, but Hyena had been alone with her in a small confined area. It wasn't going to get any better than that. Fox knew if she didn't take Hyena down hard and fast, things would get very bad, very quickly. So she'd taken her chance...

Her kick strike had rocked the predatory Pack member's head back, and allowed Fox a moment's hope of success. But Hyena shook off what had been a solid blow, and returned the favor with a punch that knocked Fox back to the cold metal floor. Then Hyena's cybernetic limbs were all over the fallen woman, binding her wrists together, tangling her legs so that she couldn't kick. Fox had struggled, her youthful body, still in it's prime, was strong as a rigorous, sometimes harsh regime of daily training could make it. But she had lost leverage, and Hyena's cybernetic strength exceeded even olympic level human muscle. Laughing, the cyber enhanced Pack member pressed Fox flat onto her back, and kept her there until the struggles ceased.

Fox knew she couldn't take Hyena physically in just her naked skin, not in a straight fight. Which left guile. All she needed was for Hyena to drop her guard, just for an instant, and Fox would be happy to prove artificial brute force could be over come by natural cunning.

The female cyborg's body was pressed so hard against Fox that she could feel the discomforting metallic thrust of Hyena's pelvis grind against her own.

"So is that a new enhancement, or are you just happy to see me?" Fox let her voice drop into it's lower, seductive register, moving now not to struggle, but to rub herself suggestively against Hyena's cyborg body.

"You're such a slut, Fox." Hyena's laughter faded away, and she purposefully tightened her grip on Fox's wrists until the other woman cried out in pain, "After seeing you in bed with Maza, I'd almost believe you'd spread your legs for anyone. Xanatos has had you, the gargoyles little cop friend. I always thought Wolf was just bragging when he said he'd taken you doggie style, but now I'm not so sure."

"Wolf is full of shit." Fox snapped, but her eyes narrowed thoughtfully, "But the thought isn't without a certain attraction. He has a certain animal... magnetism. I bet you're curious as to how far his genetic modifications have gone as I am."

Hyena's feral grin told Fox she'd hit a mark.

"You are a sick bitch, Fox," Hyena purred, loosening her hold by just a minute amount.

Fox hid her relief, feeling her blood moving again was a welcome pain. She knew Hyena better than she wanted, both from leading the Pack and the time they'd been cell mates. But now Fox was glad to put that knowledge to good use.

"Isn't that what you like about me?" Fox asked, letting the tip of her tongue moisten her lips, "Isn't that what you want from me?"

"What makes you think you have anything I want?" Hyena taunted, but her eyes brightened with interest.

Their faces were bare inches apart, it took the smallest effort for Fox to lift her mouth to Hyena's. For such a homicidal hardcase, Hyena's lips were surprisingly soft and tender. Fox sucked slowly on the full bottom lip before moving on to a full open mouth kiss. She put everything she could into the effort, a mix of seductive invitation and heated sensuality.

Hyena's surprise quickly melted into triumph, and she accepted Fox's gesture by returning the kiss with almost punishing force. The mercenary's tongue slipped deeply into the accepting moist warmth, and Fox's tongue stroked back, making slick, heated promises without words. Hyena felt her cunt tighten in anticipation. Playing with the dark haired police woman had wetted Hyena's appetite, but Fox squirming naked beneath her was even more exciting. Maza had been a tasty little lamb, but ultimately a prey animal. Fox was another predator. The thought of forcing her former leader to submit like prey made Hyena wet.

"You were saying?" Fox asked, breathless from Hyena's enthusiasm, "

"Speaking of new enhancements, I do have a few I'd like to show you." Hyena's voice was nearly guttural as she pulled away.

The mercenary's excitement was obvious. She released her grip on Fox and sat up, straddling the woman beneath her. Still pinned under Hyena's weight, Fox waited for her moment. When Hyena's hands went down to the metallic guard over her sex, Fox struck. A palm strike at Hyena's nose, designed to fracture the facial bones and cause shock trauma to the brain... If it had landed. Instead, one of Hyena's cybernetic arm deflected the strike with contemptuous speed, while on her other hand, needle tips extended from the already menacing talons.

"The first enhancement is the hypodermic delivery system which lets me inject a target with a number of toxins... or recreational drugs." Hyena's tone was sly, as she dragged the needle tips across her captive's fair skin, not quite piercing.

Fox froze, the whites of her eyes showing as she focused on a bead of clear liquid forming at the end of a talon tip.

"Want to guess which ones I loaded up just for you?"

"Don't." Fox whispered, not taking her eyes away from the threat that dimpled her flesh.

"But Fox, sweet heart. It might even be one of your old favorites." Hyena's voice was a taunting croon, "I remember exactly what you liked best, before you decided to go cold turkey. Too afraid they'd dull your edge, wasn't that the excuse you gave? But maybe the real reason was little miss control freak was afraid she liked letting loose too much."

Fox's silence was all the answer Hyena needed.

"You were so much more fun before you went straight, Fox." Hyena said with mock regret, "The things you did... Well no use crying over spilled psychotropics."

"What do you want Hyena?" Fox asked, her voice flat as her stare.

"That brings me to another new toy," Hyena purred, finally removing the guard plate that covered her sex.

"David's tech boys gave you that?!" Fox's voice rose in disbelief.

"Strange how many brilliant pervs your hubby manages to employ." Hyena laughed, pleased at Fox's wide eyed response, "But I think they out did themselves with this one. With this baby I can be an inny or an outy."

The thick, penile cable that extended from between Hyena's nether lips twitched, and moved forward like a blind snake.

"It's also linked into my nervous system, so I can enjoy every sensation as if it were the real thing." the cybernetically altered woman mentioned as she scooted forward, "Now three guesses what I want you to do with it."

"You have got to be kidding!" Fox protested, any thought of continued seduction forgotten in the face, quite literally, of the cybernetic phallus, "You could choke a horse with that thing! There's no way I could..."

Her protest faded as the Hyena flexed her needle tipped hand.

"Do it." Hyena commanded, having gotten positioned so she was resting on her knees, pelvis lifted even with Fox's mouth, "Open those soft pink lips and wrap them around my new plaything, or I'll have to find a different set of lips to slid it through."

The hand that wasn't pressing sharp edged chemical threat against Fox's tender skin, trailed behind Hyena, finding the soft red gold curls of Fox's sex. The tapered ends of Hyena's sheathed finger blades stroked between the pouting lips of her captive's vulnerable cunt.

Fox glared up at Hyena's smug face, but obediently took the artificial cock into her mouth, allowing the thick girth to press her lips apart and slide into the warm moist cavern. Her tongue slithered along the shaft, adding stimulation as she began to suck.

"Yessss..." Hyena hissed in pleasure, "That feels nice. Keep doing that Fox."

The mercenary let her hand start rubbing at Fox's silky thatch, slipping between the soft fleshy folds to find the slick moistness that gathered there.

"Oooh! Fox, you _are_ a bad girl. Getting wet from this are you?" Hyena's mocking laughter brought tears of humiliation to Fox's eyes.

She was wet, her intimate places still sensitive from Elisa's welcomed touch. Now Hyena's invading fingers plundered the same places the New York police detective had explored so lovingly. Fox could feel her body responding to the sexual stimulation with unwilling arousal. She would have cursed if her mouth were not full to the point of gagging with Hyena's faux cock. She could feel it pulsing in her mouth, strangely warm. Almost as if it were living flesh instead of a cybernetic abomination.

But if it really was connected to Hyena's nervous system, perhaps over loading it with stimulus would produce the same effect on Hyena, in effect immobilizing the mercenary if she were to 'cum' with her artificial cock. Fox was willing to take the chance. She sucked on the cyber shaft in deadly earnest.

Hyena's moans of pleasure were abhorrent, yet perversely exciting. Fox, to her horror, felt herself growing even wetter as she began to take unwilling pleasure from her act of fellatio. It did not help that Hyena' was rubbing at Fox's sex with wanton abandon. Fox gasped, taking the phallus deeper than she wanted into her throat, as she felt Hyena's fingers penetrate her sex, sliding into her with cruelly forceful strokes.

It's just sex. Fox focused on the thought, holding onto it with fierce desperation. It's just sex. It meant nothing. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to believe that it wasn't happening to _her_. It was just her body. The response she felt was no more controllable than feeling cold when ice was pressed against the skin, or heat when touching a flame. There was no shame in feeling pleasure when Hyena thrust unwanted cybernetic fingers into the the moist cavern of her sex. Nooooo...

No shame in beginning to quiver with building orgasm as Hyena's thumb rubbed over the swollen bud of Fox's excited clit...

Whimpers escaped from Fox as Hyena increased the sexual stimulation, her hips began jerking in time with Hyena's own pumping gyrations above her face. She could feel the artificial penis begin to swell, it pulsed in her mouth and throat...

Hot liquid splashed deep in her throat, and Fox jerked back gagging as Hyena pulled away breathing heavily. The hands that had both threatened and pleasured Fox were now wrapped around Hyena's cyber cock, milking it of the last of it's artificial cum.

Now was the time to strike...

Fox pulled herself away from the screaming frustration of another forestalled orgasm, and wrapped her hands around Hyena's throat. No blows this time, just old fashioned strangulation. She had the necessary muscular strength, achieved through endless hours of training. Hyena was choking under Fox's grip, too weak from cumming to offer real resistance...

Then Fox's strength failed her. Fingers so close to victory slipped from Hyena's bruised flesh, muscles lost their tension, and Fox felt a great lassitude sweep over her entire body...

"You didn't think the hypodermics were the only delivery system, did you Fox?" Hyena choked out, laughing painfully, "But you did win the lesser of two evils. My newest attachment only carries a drugged load. My claws have a more fatal charge."

Fox heard, but was unable to respond as she lay limp and used on the metal prison's cold floor.

"Poor baby, you didn't get off, did you?" Hyena crooned, crawling back to Fox's sprawled form, "Well don't worry. I have all sorts of things planned for you..."

Fox's mind snapped back the present as Jackal slung her off his shoulder, and steadied her on her feet. Blinking in confusion, Fox wondered if she'd been wrong about the hallucinogens. She'd lost time, and realized she was in a completely unfamiliar room, with a man she recognized by reputation alone.

"Dracon. Tony Dracon." she spoke slowly, glad her words didn't come out slurred.

"Mrs. Xanatos."

The dark haired mob boss examined his new prize with a critical eye.

"She's naked too. Why is everyone you bring me stripped?" Tony's voice held disapproval, but his gaze lingered on the red haired woman's exposed charms, "I'm running a business operation here, and it's not a porn film."

"Sorry boss. She and Maza came this way." Jackal's apologetic tone was patently false, "They were making out when we grabbed them. You did know your new honey was into other women, right?"

Tony's eyes narrowed as Jackal and Hyena smirked openly. He was already regretting adding the two trouble makers to the Dracon payroll. He had known that he'd need more than ordinary muscle when it came time to deal with the Gargoyles. Tonight's test run had shown that the cybernetically enhanced mercenaries could deliver on the goods. But it also revealed they were devoid of any kind of respect for their newest employer. Something would have to be done about that.

"So Maza and this chick... ?" Tony grinned, more a feral display of teeth than an expression of mirth, "Well, that should make the marriage more interesting. I don't care if she has a girl friend or two to keep her out of trouble when I'm not available."

"You can't seriously be thinking of marrying that cop, can you?" Jackal asked, disbelief obvious.

"Him? And Maza?" Hyena's derisive laugh rang through the room, "And what about her boyfriend? You remember, the big purple one? Or maybe you don't mind sharing your wife with another species as well as with other women."

Tony's smile tightened. Yes. Something would definitely have to be done about these two.

"Goliath and his fellow monsters won't be a problem. They won't even be alive long enough to disrupt my wedding." Dracon's told them.

And once the Gargoyles are are dead and gone, you can join them. Dracon's thoughts brought a genuine smile to his face, and he grinned with his two unwitting cyborg pawns.

"Still no word?" Lexington asked as he entered the Castle's main hall.

"No lad, I'm afraid not." Hudson's voice held a weariness as the older warrior turned to the small green gargoyle.

Most of the clan had already returned after hours of scouring the city for any sign of Elisa or Fox. The only one still left was...

"Goliath!" Brooklyn's call alerted them to their leader's arrival.

He entered grimly, making the large room seem small by his foreboding presence. His dark eyes searched the faces of his clan for some sign of hope. With each set of downcast eyes, Goliath felt his heart grow colder.

"Any updates from Xanatos or Bluestone?" he asked finally.

"Only that they have no new information. All the hospitals have been checked, and double checked. Matt has asked friends of his in the police department to contact him if they find any... news..." Hudson hesitated, but continued, "Good or bad."

"And Dracon?"

The name came out in a growl that chilled the ridges on Hudson's spine.

"No word on him either. It's like he dropped off the face of the planet." Broadway answered.

The burly gargoyles frustration was evident as he struck the wall nearest him.

"I don't understand. He's a criminal. And they just let him out of jail without even warning Elisa." the confusion in Broadway's voice was painful to hear.

"Lad, we dinna know for sure that Dracon has anything to do with the lass going missing." Hudson reached out to the younger gargoyle, a comforting hand clasping his shoulder.

"She's the cop who put him away! It's got to be Dracon!" Broadway's voice boomed out as he shrugged off Hudson's hand, "He's always had it in for Elisa, and now that he's free he's done something to her! If he's hurt her..."

"We don't know that." Lexington spoke sharply, looking from Broadway to Goliath's grief stricken countenance, "We don't! Yes, we don't know where Elisa is right now, but that does not mean she's been harmed. Even a hard core scum like Dracon would know striking at Elisa will only borrow trouble. He's seen how important she is to us..."

"Exactly. Dracon knows we care about Elisa." Broadway retorted, "And he hates us! What better way to hurt us than to..."

"Stop!" Angela's clear, feminine voice rang through the room, reminding them of her presence.

She went to Broadway and placed a calming hand on his quaking shoulders, "Just stop, all of you. Elisa will be alright. She has to be."

"And if she isn't?" Brooklyn mantled his ebony wings and crossed his arms beneath their dark cloak, his neutral tone carrying clearly through the room, "If we find out Dracon or someone else has done something to Elisa?"

"If anyone has hurt Elisa... I will make them pay." The pure menace in Goliath's voice was echoed by the white hot glare of his gaze.

Elisa resisted the dreaming. Tossing in fitfully on top of the sweat dampened sheets, she fought her way back to consciousness. Whatever the pale bitch had forced down her throat was coming back up. She fell more than stumbled out of the strange bed. Verging on collapse, Elisa steadied herself with a hand on the bedroom wall.

Even with her vision swimming in and out of focus, she could see how rich and decadent her surroundings were. Thick oriental rugs on the polished hardwood floor, sheer gauzy canopy over the a king sized bed fitted in glossy sheets of silk and satin and enough pillows to drown in. Tony Dracon had obviously deposited her into a little love nest after... after...

Elisa grabbed for a nearby vase, dumping out it's arrangement of orchids and roses, she heaved out the contents of her stomach.

"Jalapena... " she cursed weakly, sinking to the floor with her back to the wall.

She remembered Dracon's insane proposal. He'd ignored her immediate refusal as if she hadn't even spoken. Instead he tried to snow her with talk about things she didn't know that could make her reconsider his offer. He had to be delusional. Why would he think she'd ever change her mind?

Then he'd given Demona to that female Dr. Mengele.

The silver gilt blonde had talked about the gargoyle like she was a lab animal. Even Tony Dracon had shown a twinge of humanity when his mad scientist had suggested dissecting Demona. Hel had been distressingly familiar with Gargoyle biology, and made a thorough physical examination of Demona's wounds while removing the physical restraints on the gargoyle, before laying her out like an offering. Whatever they'd drugged Demona with was more effective at keeping her docile than any shackles. But even if her body was quiescent, her eyes had raged. Their glow was a crimson stain that Detective Maza could not ignore.

When Hel had decided to put off slicing open Demona to see what made her tick, Elisa had sighed with heart felt relief. It was short lived. The only reason Hel wanted to delay her horrific plan was because a full dissection would require time to set up and perform, and there were only so many hours left until dawn. But those next few hours could still be put to other use. The cold hearted bitch had decided to test how much extreme stimulus the gargoyle could endure. And Jackal had offered his and Hyena's services immediately. She could still see the lust burning in his eyes as he reached out and began touching Demona's defenseless body with predatory interest.

That was when it all went to hell.

Elisa had protested violently, first with words, then with actions. And finally Dracon had his head henchman, Glasses, restrain the policewoman while Hel had come at her with a syringe. Pretending defeat, Elisa had let her body sag in the mobster's grasp, lulling him into relaxing his grip just slightly... right until the blonde attempted to plunge the needle home. A wrenching twist, and instead of slipping into Elisa's flesh, the slender metal spike plunged into the man holding her.

Hel didn't even bother getting another syringe. She simply grabbed the furious detective's jaw in one hand, and forced something down her throat with the other.

Then the world had dissolved to black for the second time that night.

"I've got to get out of here." Elisa told the empty room, "I have to get to Fox, and we both have to get out of here."

What about Demona? A small voice in the back of her mind prodded at her insistently. She tried to save you earlier. She needs you now.

"Demona's the enemy. She's tried to kill me more times than I can count." Elisa protest sounded weak even to herself.

But not tonight. Not when you needed her.

"Jalapena... " Elisa moaned, burying her face in her hands for a long moment.

She shuddered, remembering the feel of Jackal's engorged cock pressing at her flesh... Her own broken pleas for help... Jackal's scream as Demona's tail whipped around his throat, stopping him from completing the act of rape...

Slowly Elisa raised her face from her hands, staring through the veil of her own hair... the bitter chocolate of her eyes dark with resolve.

This was all Elisa's fault. Demona cursed the human female for the thousandth time, and tried again to move her limbs. Some mobility was returning, but with an aching slowness that was driving the gargoyle to the point of madness.

Always, _always_ when she succumbed to a moment's lapse of judgment and did some kindness for a human, _always_ she wound up bitterly regretting it. Demona snarled in her mind, still unable to express herself any other way.

Saving young Macbeth and his leman when both were but dewy children. That had been a mistake. Macbeth's later betrayal had led her to siding with Canmore, and _that_ had led to the death the last of Scotland's gargoyles.

Canmore, when he was but a boy... if she'd slain him then instead of supporting Macbeth's weak notion of mercy... She'd let the whelp live and later when he returned as a grown man, he'd repaid her compliance in defeating Macbeth with basest treachery.

And now in a moment's weakness Demona had given aid to the woman she detested more than any other human.

She should have left well enough alone and left Goliath's pet human to be ravished by others of her misbegotten species.

Why hadn't she?

Demona brooded over the question. She had woken up furious at how easily she'd been taken by the human mercenaries. Not to mention in terrible agony from the bonds they'd placed on her wings. Those two cybernetic abominations had worried at her bound and helpless body like a pair of animals. How aptly those humans were named, Jackal and Hyena.

It had been very difficult lying unresponsive, playing possum until she had an opportunity to strike back. But as soon as she freed herself, Demona promised herself to repay them for every indignity she had suffered at their hands. When the gargoyle showed no reaction to their torment, the brother and sister lost interest in her.

Bored, the male decided to play with Elisa's sweet, naked charms instead. Her unclothed body was utterly defenseless, and it's sexual allure was inevitable.

When Maza had regained her senses, she was in the midst of being molested. It was small wonder she fought so ferociously against his attentions, but it sealed her fate. Her very struggles excited her captors, their arousal growing with her every act of protest. When they began beating the police detective, Demona had cursed in the darkness, silently willing the human to go limp, play dead... Those sobbing cries of pain caused Demona to twist in her own bonds, and she used her own pain to try and block out the the discomfort she felt at Elisa's distress.

The human was her enemy. What was it to Demona if one more human woman was abused by others of her own kind? Their weak were often preyed upon by those stronger. It was the nature of their despicable kind.

But Elisa hadn't lose her defiance, and despite taking vicious blows, spat in Jackal's face when he continued his sexual harassment. Despite herself, Demona was impressed with the dark haired human's spirit.

It was only when Elisa realized that her captors were planning to actually rape her, that the human's true vulnerability was revealed.

There had been a sickening familiarity to the human's breathy, desperate pleas. They reminded Demona of another time, another place, when the cries had been her own...

Demona had growled low in her throat as she tried to banish old memories. No one had heeded her cries that night when she learned another depth of human depravity. Those _human_ males had hurt her...

She'd been little more than a child then. Attacked from behind, rendered senseless from an unprovoked attack... Coherent thought had been slow to return. But once back, it was no mercy. The young gargoyle had found herself staked out on the ground, limbs splayed while her attackers made painful use of her. Confused, her head swimming from the blow, she'd pleaded for them to stop, screamed out for succor...

No one heard. No one who cared.

And the brutal use had gone on...

Ancient, unresolved feelings of shame and anger welled up in the gargoyle's heart. No matter what Demona herself had planned to do with Elisa Maza, watching the sobbing, helpless woman being raped by those cybernetic savages had not been an option. Besides, the gargoyle rationalized her unwilling desire to help the police detective, Elisa was _her_ prey. Demona would not share what was hers with those scavenger beasts.

Now, listening to her new captors talk, the crimson haired gargoyle wondered if acting on her confused feelings of sympathy and possessiveness had too high a price. Her blood ran cold in her veins as the one who'd struck her down, spoke again of experiments...

There wasn't enough time before the dawn for a proper, full fledged dissection, and that hellish woman had known that gargoyles were stone by day. Demona had blessed her stars that the blonde witch did not know _this_ gargoyle would remain flesh even during the day. But there was no reprieve from other horrors. Even if there wasn't time for a dissection, there were a few hours left of the night. Enough for Demona's captors to find other uses for the female gargoyle.

Then the one called Jackal began to touch her...

It was with a sense of utter humiliation, and no little irony, that Demona witnessed Elisa Maza coming to her defense. It was, as fate would have it, was pathetically inadequate attempt.

Elisa was drugged by the white haired creature who pretended at humanity, and taken away. Demona felt an odd, piercing sense of loss as the dark haired police woman disappeared from view.

"Are you comfortable my dear?" Hel's voice was cool in it's detached consideration.

The red haired captive tugged weakly at the collar wrapped around her throat, and glared sullenly at the woman who held the attached leash.

"I'd be more comfortable without the bondage gear." Fox said bluntly.

"But it suits you."

The blonde woman spoke softly, the chill momentarily lifting from her features as she studied the attractive young woman clad only in leather cuffs, collar, and chains. This human was as interesting as the gargoyle who lay on the other side of the one way glass. They were alone in the observation room, the only audience to the coming display. Dracon had not wanted to stay and watch the show he'd help to stage.

Dracon had left the woman, Fox Xanatos, in her keeping. And his instructions had been ruthlessly simple. Fox was to be given a full, graphic demonstration of the extremely unpleasant situations she could find herself in... should her husband, David Xanatos, not meet the demands that would soon be made to him. After witnessing some of the severe treatment the gargoyle would suffer through, Fox would see it was in her best interest to convince her husband to do whatever was necessary to secure her safety.

It was a brilliant, if brutal idea. A shame that the man who had thought of it did not have the stomach to see it through personally, instead of leaving it to his partner.

Hel sighed, the mobster was showing distressing signs of weakness.

But there was little help of it at this stage. Dracon had the under world connections she needed to complete her projects. Mace Malone's advice had been sound. Tony Dracon was necessary. For now.

But it wasn't Dracon's interests that made this captive so fascinating. It was her blood.

Fox Xanatos wasn't _completely_ human.

Reaching out a pale hand, Hel gently stroked the flame colored hair of her kinswoman.

"Don't." Fox said, her face stony, "Don't touch me."

Hel let her hand fall away. She had forgotten how deeply the rejection of her own kind cut. But... this little half breed was still an infant as fay reckoned time, and unschooled, or Fox would have known who and what held her leash. And what she risked with her insult. Still, Hel could be generous when the mood suited her. She would forgive. This time.

"I would spare you this." Hel told her prisoner, "Truly."

Fox shivered at her captor's words. It frightened her that the woman actually sounded sincere. Whatever was about to happen on the other side of the glass was not going to be pleasant. Her eyes narrowed as the light level slowly increased in the other room, revealing a familiar form sprawled on an examination table. She had seen Demona's earlier attack on Jackal, and the consequences. Fox had been so relieved that Elisa had been spared Jackal's attempted rape, she'd barely given the female gargoyle any thought. Demona was immortal. No matter what was done to her, she'd survive. So it had been easy to dismiss the blue skinned female's fate, especially when Fox's own was in jeopardy.

Why was she here, like this?

Fox could vividly remember the first time she'd seen David's sometimes ally. Her first impression had been of fantastic wings, a wild mane of crimson hair, and shapely blue skinned curves barely concealed by a scant halter and loin cloth. If Demona hadn't been so overbearingly arrogant and contemptuous of all humans, including Xanatos, Fox _might_ have been jealous. But the female gargoyle had never taken any pains to hide her deep seated disdain. And Fox had been glad that the beautiful creature was far too bitter and dangerous to ever be a rival for David's affections. Because with her exotic looks, and amoral, passionate, warrior nature, Demona would have been among the few females on the planet that might have captured his romantic interest.

Then Fox would have had to find a way to destroy the gargoyle.

But fortunately that had not been necessary. Indeed, Demona had been in attendance to Fox and David's wedding as the reluctant maid of honor. It had all been part of a brilliant Xanatos scheme. One which had planted the first seeds of his great destiny. Demona's own plans however had not been so successful. She'd departed after their time traveling adventure in a seething fury.

That had been the first, and last time Fox had any direct contact with the overly volatile female. Fox didn't count the time she'd been turned into a stone statue, along with the rest of New York, by the human hating gargoyle. That had been her own fault really. David had warned her not to watch the spell laden television broadcast. But Fox hadn't been able to curb her curiosity, and had become another victim to Demona's treachery. After that, the uneasy alliance between Xanatos and Demona had severed. Fox hadn't been unhappy with the end results. She and David had made mad, passionate love for days afterwards.

Fox blinked back tears. She'd see David again, and her son. Both she and Elisa would make it through this horrible night somehow. Fox had to keep focused on that. Whatever it took, she would see to it that they made it out okay. At least she didn't have to worry about the gargoyle. Demona could take care of herself.

Why wasn't she moving? The gunshot wounds from earlier would have healed by now. Fox frowned, finally noticing the Demona's eyes were wide open, the pupils seemed dilated... but it was hard to tell for sure. Was she drugged?

"The show's about to begin."

She started, the cool comment had come from right behind her. Fox had somehow missed Hel moving in close enough to for the chill of her breath to brush against her captive's cheek. The silver blonde reached past Fox to touch a control panel next to the one way glass. Sound from the other room was pumped in through hidden speakers.

The rising volume of a familiar, manic giggle sent a sick chill through Fox. She watched Jackal and Hyena make their entrance into the other room. Their eyes gleamed with feral excitement as they headed towards helpless gargoyle...

Jackal and Hyena circled their prey, examining the prone gargoyle from every angle. She lay in disheveled disarray of crimson hair and smooth, azure limbs. Her body spread out, limp on the raised, padded table. The lone piece of furnishing of the otherwise barren examination room. The blood on her soft blue hide had dried, the brown flaking stains the only evidence of the damage she'd taken earlier in the night. The ragged holes in her wings had already closed, leaving the thin wing membranes whole once more.

"Aw... look brother. Her clothes are all torn and soiled."

Hyena's solicitous croon raised the fine hair on back of Demona's neck.

"Why, you're right Sis. Tsk, tsk." Jackal's tone of disapproval did not match the wide grin on his face, "Perhaps we should help her out of them."

"Do you think we should? The poor thing might catch cold if we strip her naked."

Hyena's purr was disturbingly close... Demona slowly turned her head. It was like moving through thick, sticky molasses, but at least she was able to move. She found herself face to face with the female mercenary.

Leaning down, Hyena let her lips hover over Demona's soft, full mouth... not quite brushing the red ripeness. Dark brown eyes bright with excitement, she drank in the sight of the captive gargoyle's widening black pupils. The prey was fully aware, if not active. That was always the most fun. There was no point in tormenting someone if they couldn't properly appreciate it.

"Don't worry baby sister." Jackal's breath was too warm against Demona's bare neck as he leaned in closer, watching his twin's partially parted lips with avid interest.

"If she gets cold, we'll just apply some... heat."

Laughing, Hyena danced back a step, leaving her brother to sigh in momentary disappointment. But she'd only moved away so the helpless gargoyle could see her extend a gleaming, razor sharp blade from her hand. For a moment Hyena held a pose of contemplation, as she let her gaze wander over Demona's halter and loin cloth.

"This rag will have to go first," she said, indicating the bullet hole ridden top.

"An excellent choice." Jackal agreed, also moving back, to better watch his sister begin the game.

Hyena slowly slipped the jutting blade beneath the cloth covering the gargoyle's chest. Letting the gargoyle feel the sharp coldness of the metal in the valley of her cleavage for a long, exquisite moment, before ripping upwards, slashing the fabric apart. Demona's lush, round breasts quivered in the aftermath of their violent exposure. The darkly ruddy nubs of the gargoyle's nipples contracted into stiff peaks in the cool air, gaining the appreciative interest of the room's occupants.

"I think she likes us." Jackal chortled, reaching out to touch one of the dark red buds.

His sister's blade whipped out, slapping at his hand away with a hard rap.

Jackal yelped and snatched his hand back, glaring at his sister... His startled anger melted away under her heated gaze, and his lips curved up in a smile.

"Well baby sister, you want first shot?" his voice came out slightly hoarse, as he watched the tip of her tongue wet her lips in aroused anticipation.

"Why thank you, brother dear. You're too kind." Hyena's voice was sweet as only a loving sister's could be.

Demona shivered, involuntary chills sweeping through her. She'd expected torture. She just hadn't expected it to come in the form of sexual molestation. It sickened her, to be at the mercy of human lechery. But it was not something she'd hadn't endured before. If they thought to break her down with a little rape, they were sorely mistaken. Let them do their worst. She was recovering from the poison that coursed through her veins. Soon the tables would be turned and she'd be cutting more than cloth.

"Oh my, my, my... " Hyena shook her head, "Just look at the grim resolve on that pretty face. It's an absolute shame."

"You know how dull martyr types can be, sister dear. So wrapped up in their self righteous delusions that they think the world can't touch them." Jackal commented, "But isn't it a delight when we can show them how wrong they are?"

"Yes. You're so right brother." Hyena spoke as she let her claw wander lightly over the exposed breasts, not quite piercing the skin, "This gargoyle needs to learn the world can touch her in ways she'd never thought possible."

"That _we_ can touch her in ways she never thought possible." Jackal amended, moving forward cautiously.

This time his sister didn't warn him off. Jackal reached out to stroke the captive's ankle, brushing lightly up the shapely calf, and on to the delicate, sensitive skin of the gargoyles inner thigh. He felt the tremble beneath his finger tips, and his smile stretched further.

"Not so stoic now, are we pet?" Jackal asked, his fingers continuing their journey, "You'll lose the rest of that reserve soon."

His hand was beneath her loincloth now, and cupping the soft mound between her thighs. Demona's tail twitched, what would have been a furious lash if she were not so drugged. Jackal noted the motion and grinned, his grip tightening almost painfully on the plump sex in his hand.

With a smile of predatory delight, Hyena watched the movement beneath the brief triangle of cloth. Whatever Jackal was doing was having an effect on the prisoner. The gargoyle's eyes widened further, their liquid darkness could not hide the distress she felt. Then the mercenary removed his hand, his fingers gleaming in the room's harsh fluorescent light.

"Isn't this a nice surprise," Jackal examined the wetness with smug interest, before offering the evidence to his sister.

"Lovely..." Hyena laughed softly, "I think we aren't the only ones who'll enjoy this dear brother."

Jackal trembled as Hyena slipped his dew covered fingers into her mouth, her eyes drifting shut as she first licked, then sucked them clean.

Grinning, Hyena pulled away from her twin, enjoying the shamed pleasure in his eyes. Torment was sweeter for the sharing. There were few she enjoyed sharing with as much as her own dear brother.

"She has a sweet flavor."

"Mind if I have a taste?" Jackal's voice was devoid of it's usual bravado, his request full of hesitant hope.

His eyes drawn once more to his sister's mouth.

Hyena smiled, and with casual cruelty gestured to the almost forgotten prisoner, "Help yourself."

Jackal felt disappointment was as keen as pain, but relief as well. Turning back to the gargoyle's vulnerable body, he curled his fingers over the loin cloth, and tore it away in one savage motion.

Demona closed her eyes as she felt the room's cool air rush over her bared sex. This was harder to deal with than she was expecting.

Damn Thailog...

She'd almost forgotten how he'd conditioned her body to respond even against her will. The silver maned gargoyle had taken great pains to twist Demona's natural response to his often humiliating caresses, bleeding her anger into excitement, and her disgust into arousal. She'd let him do... things... to her. Out of feelings she had mistaken for love. Out of her own desperate loneliness. Knowing now that he had only been using her, Demona had ruthlessly blocked out the memories of those past degrading pleasures. When he'd disappeared in the flames of the collapsing amusement park, Demona had thought she was done with that part of her life forever. Now she found that even if Thailog with gone, his evil lived after him.

She felt only loathing for these human deviants. But she was getting wet.

Jackal's discovery had been all that was humiliating. And as he pushed wide her thighs, parting the tender lips of her sex, Demona felt an odd dampness seep beneath her lashes. No... She blinked rapidly, trying to deny the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. Please no...

She didn't want to cry.

As if in answer to her plea, a sudden painful pinch distracted her from the peril of weeping. Demona's eyes opened in shock, and she found Hyena's face hovering close once more. The woman had grasped one of the gargoyle's taut nipples, and was squeezing tightly.

"That's a good girl. We wouldn't want you to miss anything." Hyena's voice was solicitous, but her smile was pure cruelty.

Locking gazes with the gargoyle, she pulled the nipple slightly, increasing the discomfort. Demona growled, eyes narrowing as she imagined ripping the smile off of her tormentor's face. Hyena's smile only widened, and she took the gargoyle's other nipple in hand and subjected it to the same treatment as the first. Demona was glad of her anger. Welcoming the fierce desire to kill and rend the woman before her. Demona's rage kept her safe from a threat greater than mere pain.

She gasped in shock as Jackal's mouth fastened on her heated wetness and began to suck...

The pain in her nipples intensified, and Demona cried out. Not because of the discomfort. She suffered worse pain by far during her daily transformations..

No... she cried out because of the sick pleasure welling through her as the human's mouth greedily feasted where he had no right. His long, broad, _human_ tongue forcing it's way deep into the honeyed well of her sex, his _human_ nose mashing against the sensitive bulb of her clit as he licked and suckled with little grace, but much enthusiasm.

"Stop..!"

The word burst past her lips unexpectedly. Demona's eyes widened as she realized she had regained the power of speech... then closed in humiliation as she realized her involuntary exclamation would only spur her attackers on. She used the now white hot pain of Hyena's pinching fingers, and kept her eyes closed. Focusing on the pain, she tried to ignore the sensations building from Jackal's oral assault.

Hyena's mouth twisted in anger. The prey was not going to ignore her. Releasing one of the monster's reddened and swollen peaks, Hyena reached down to push her brother's head away from his prize. Demona's eyes flew open as the fingers that had previously tortured her nipple now found her vulnerable clitoris...

"Don't... !" her breathy plea died in her throat.

A strangled scream erupted from her throat, and her eyes blazed crimson with her agony.

"That's better." Hyena's voice was husky with passion as she released the gargoyle's sensitive flesh, "I like you better with your eyes open."

Jackal resumed his feeding, and Demona shuddered with pain and revulsion, but did not close her eyes again. Instead she watched the sister with wariness.

"That's my good girl." Hyena crooned, stoking the gargoyle's long crimson tresses, "Now, it's not so bad is it?"

Her hands moved from the softness of Demona's thick red mane to the half folded wings. The delicate wing arms trembled under Hyena's curious touch, completely unfurling under the demanding exploration.

"How interesting." Hyena commented, running her palm over the outstretched wing, the inner lavender flesh smooth as fine silk, "I made sure those clamps pierced all the way through when we captured you. Your precious wings should be little more than a cloak of tattered flesh. Now there aren't even any scars."

Extending the blade of her index finger, Hyena pressed the razor edge against the taut skin nearest the wing hand, then slashed down.

Demona's mouth opened, as what felt like a line of fire stroked through her wing, burning pain flaring through her. But she did not scream. Not yet.

Hyena watched the fine line etched in the delicate wing flesh fill with tiny scarlet beads with slightly parted lips, her tongue flicking out to moisten them.

"Playtime."

Demona had thought feeling pleasure would be worse than feeling pain. Hyena took long, deliberate care to show her how wrong that was. There was no more worry about pleasure for the gargoyle, unwanted or otherwise. Only pain. Inventive... invasive... prolonged pain...

Her wings burned. An inferno of agony. This time, when the screams forced their way out, they did not stop until they were cut off with a savage kiss.

Hyena's gaze was feverishly bright when she lifted her head from the gargoyle's trembling lips. Mouth and hands stained scarlet, she panted with her excitement.

Jackal had already discarded his concealing armor, his flesh rampant in his hand as he watched his sister shudder in her growing ecstasy. His love and fear mingling into old, entrenched lines of lust. When she was like this, losing herself in the bloodlust, there was no safety. Not even for him.

But he could not tear himself away. He never could.

"Mount her."

The order was more a growl than words, but it was one he'd been waiting for. Jackal leapt to obey, literally. In a move almost too fast to see, he was on the table with the gargoyle, straddling her quaking azure hips. It was his turn to tremble as Hyena reached out a blood wet hand to cradle his ready cock, stoking it scarlet. Her other hand spread open the soft lips of the gargoyle's sex. She guided him into the waiting heat.

"Fuck her. Fuck her like you should have done the Maza bitch. Show her what interfering has cost her..."

In his private office, Tony Dracon adjusted the volume on the close circuit monitor. He sat relaxed in the massive chair, feet resting on the desk

His right hand, Glasses, rested in one of the other available chairs, still recovering from the small amount of drug that had entered his system when Maza had pulled her little stunt earlier. That woman never gave up. Tony was perversely proud at how much spirit his fiancee had. Breaking her of it would be a real challenge.

The screen zoomed in on the examination room that Hel had provided for Jackal and Hyena's playtime with the female gargoyle.

"Why do you reward them like this? I know you don't like those two." Glasses asked, studying Dracon's profile.

Tony did not move his eyes from the scene on the TV screen, not even for a moment as he answered distractedly.

"I'll take care of them in due time. But the gargoyle comes first." he smiled, "I wanted to watch her scream."

"But boss, I thought you'd never met this particular gargoyle before." Glasses frowned, returning his gaze to the body writhing beneath Jackal's assault.

"I haven't. But this gargoyle, that gargoyle, it doesn't matter. They are all connected. Hurt one, you hurt them all." Dracon's voice held grim pleasure, "Rape one... "

"That ain't natural." Glasses muttered, his disgust evident, but he took care those words were too soft for his boss to hear.

Fox wanted to shut her eyes. She wanted to place lift her hands to block out the screams coming from the other room. But she didn't even dare to blink as the gargoyle's rape continued. How could she? After what Hel had told her...

"This is for your benefit, you know." the strange woman had spoken softly, but each word was as clear as if etched with acid, "There is no science to this. No value for me in this unfortunate creature's suffering."

"Then how can you stand there and watch this horror show?" Fox had asked turning to face Hel, accusation burning in her cerulean gaze.

"It doesn't bother me." Hel had stated simply, pale eyes staring back with chilling calm, "But then neither does it please me. It is merely the means to an end."

"What end?" Fox snapped, feeling the lethargy from Hyena's drug beginning to slowly recede beneath the weight of her growing emotional turmoil.

"To make an impression on you." the silver blonde woman answered with cool practicality, "Every moan, every cry... every scream. It's all for you. Whatever the gargoyle suffers at the hands of your _former_ associates... it's all for you."

"That's a lie." Fox said shifting her eyes, no longer able to meet the other woman's stare, "Those two would rape a tree if they could get it to scream. This has _nothing_ to do with me."

"You think not? If you weren't a factor, the gargoyle would be under my care now. Her suffering limited to the necessary pain of clinical examinations." Hel shrugged, "But Dracon wishes to motivate you. Show you exactly how bad things will be for you unless you offer your fullest cooperation."

Hel reached out a pale, fine boned hand to turn Fox's gaze back to her own, curious to see if the flame haired hybrid was moved by the non-human creature's plight. How much human regard and conscience did this half breed have?

Those that mortals named fay were creatures of strong passions. Often moved by selfish whim and fickle desire... but seldomly by compassion. Few fay would dare let themselves be personally affected by the consequences of their presence on may fly mortal lives. Humans, gargoyles... they lived and died in furiously bright, frighteningly short bursts of energy. Heart felt sympathy for these ephemeral creatures was rare quality for any of immortal blood... by sheer reason of necessity.

"So for your sake, Dracon is allowing your one time comrades to sate their perverse appetites with this prize specimen." she continued, "Rather than leaving you in their hands in her place. You should be grateful, it is but a chance grace that you are not the one enjoying their attentions."

Fox jerked her chin out of Hel's gentle grip, the conversation was becoming too personal... too disturbing. She glared at the one way glass, refusing to flinch as her eyes focused on the on going atrocities.

"You probably would hurt her just as badly in the name of science." she tried to thrust the topic away from herself, "They do it for pleasure, but in the end that gargoyle would suffer just as much if I weren't here."

"Oh, she'd suffer pain. That would be inevitable." Hel agreed with a wintery smile, moving to stand behind Fox once more.

Leaning close she let her voice drift to almost a whisper, "But I wouldn't have raped her. And I think you know the difference between mere pain, and the punishment your... friend? ...is enduring right now."

"She's not my friend... I barely know her." Fox's voice was faint, as she tried to ignore what Hel was implying, "I don't even _like_ her."

"That is a mercy for you then, isn't it?" Hel reached out to adjust the speaker controls that allowed them to hear everything in the other room clearly, "She's nothing to you? Then you needn't worry about feeling any responsibility."

She raised the volume slightly...

The harsh sounds of labored breathing filled the observation room... Demona's moans had a sob like quality to them. Her face was drawn with pain, and wet with tears...

"You are a practical woman, Fox Xanatos. I approve." Hel's cool voice was almost affectionate.

The chill of her breath against Fox's ear sent shivers through the red haired woman's already stressed nerves.

Elisa had gone through the room twice, searching for a way out. The door was locked. There were no windows. She'd been through the attached bathroom's medicine cabinets, but there was not even a hair pin or a nail file, and unless she discovered a way to pick locks with dental floss, there was nothing remotely useful. The bedroom closets had plastic hangers, half full of Tony's business suits and a few casual clothes. The detective had combed through the pockets, but there was nothing. All the clothes had a just pressed, new look and smell.

There also had been a small selections of dresses. Similarly new, tastefully expensive... all in her size.

Apparently Tony expected her to be staying awhile. With him.

Nearly screaming with frustration, Elisa turned to the large armoire across from the bed. She'd found it only contained a large television set. Too large for her to even consider smashing open to scavenge for parts. It probably wouldn't have helped if she had managed it. She was just a New York police detective. Not MacGyver.

Finally, she sat on the bed in frustration. Might as well check the news. If clan had figured out she was missing, they might be tearing the city apart for her even now. And if Xanatos were looking for Fox, there might be some mention.

Reaching for the remote, Elisa clicked on the idiot box and began surfing for WVRN.

What she got was a scene from hell.

""Fuck her. Fuck her like you should have done the Maza bitch. Show her what interfering has cost her." Hyena urged on her brother as he plunged into female gargoyle pinned beneath him.

Elisa blinked, mouth dropping open in shock.

She watched until the nausea over came her again, then leaned over the bedside to be sick on the expensive oriental rug. But she'd already cleared out the contents of her stomach earlier, and was reduced to painful, dry heaves.

When Demona began screaming again, her thumb jerked against the channel button... She wanted to believe it was by accident...

"...aren't you watching the show with your new partner?" Glasses asked his boss, both men sitting in what looked to be an office, intent on a television screen showing Hyena and Jackal's continuing brutal assault on the gargoyle.

"I don't trust her." Dracon told his henchman, eyes never leaving the rape, "I wanted to see what she'll let slip. That observation room Hel and Fox are in is wired just like every room in this building. The previous owners stripped the place down pretty good, but they left the surveillance system intact. I'll run through the tapes later to see what her reactions to this little entertainment."

"What about Maza? She's a cop. After that scene she threw earlier, she's going to want to see that her pet gargoyle is okay when she wakes up. This isn't going to go over real well with your new... fiancee." Glasses said, keeping the edge of sarcasm out of his voice.

"What Maza don't know won't hurt her. She's out cold right now. By the time she wakes up all this will be over." Dracon dismissed his underling's worries, " Hel says the gargoyle will turn to stone at dawn. We'll clean her up a little before then. Once she's a statue, Elisa will only see her beast is okay, and everything will be aces. I got another set up like this in my bedroom. Elisa will be able to check through the day that her friends are alive, and in one piece. It will keep her calm until tonight. By then everything should be in place for our getting hitched. Afterwards I'll see to it she'll be too busy to be concerned with them."

"What about her other friend? The Xanatos woman. She's getting a front row eyeful right now." Glasses continued, worried by Tony's lack of concern. "She's sure to blab the gory details."

"Not if she doesn't want to share that winged reptile's fate." Tony's voice was hard as steel, "Fox Xanatos will keep her trap shut if she knows what's good for her."

"I don't like this boss." Glasses complained, averting his eyes as ragged sobbing carried over from the security monitor, "You can't keep Maza in the dark forever. Once she gets wind of this, she'll flip out again. Women are like that. Especially someone like her. This idea of making her your wife... I don't understand it. You should just waste her."

Tony finally turned away from the rape scene to stare down his head henchman.

"You don't have to like it or understand it, my friend." Dracon's spoke almost pleasantly, but the pleasant tone didn't reach his eyes. "But if you question me again, that gargoyle won't be the only plaything our two new recruits get to have fun with. Am I clear?"

Glasses stared at his boss. Finally he nodded. "Like crystal."

Elisa clicked off the television monitor. Her normally dark face was bloodless, giving her a hollowed, haunted look.

It was close to dawn when they finished with the gargoyle. Hyena's face was suffused with pleasure, as she withdrew her cybernetic cock from Demona's cooling sheath. Her brother had already collapsed on the floor, having spent himself once in each of the captive's openings. The creature's satin like skin was now covered in a sticky mix of blood and other fluids. That, added to the many slashes criss crossing her body, gave the gargoyle a resemblance to a patchwork doll.

Leaning down, Hyena gave the blue skinned female a last, lingering kiss. The mouth beneath was cold and slack, but that didn't bother Hyena much. She and Jackal had already used it a number of times to their satisfaction. Demona's black eyes stared up blindly, full of dazed pain. Shock had already settled deeply into her system. Hyena climbed off the gargoyle's limp body, and went to shake her brother into mobility.

"Come on brother dear. Sun's almost up. Let's grab a shower. Then we can grab some breakfast. I'm starving." Hyena laughed softly, helping Jackal to the exit.

She hadn't felt so good in a very long while.

"Pancakes?" Jackal's sleepy voice asked.

"Sure. Why not." Hyena agreed as they left, "Pancakes. Stacks of them. With loads of syrup."

The one way glass slid back into the walls, opening the observation room into the examination lab. Fox stumbled forward, shaking. Hel had given her a pile of clean towels, and told her where to find the lab's water hose, so Fox could wash down the room. Then the she'd just left. Leaving Fox alone with what remained of Demona.

She couldn't be alive. Not after that. Even an immortal had to have their limits...

Somewhere out of sight, the sun rose...

For the first time since the first time Puck's gift had taken hold, Demona did not roar curses at the pain of her transformation. Cold blue skin gave way to warm pink flesh in silence. Brilliant crimson hair darkened to auburn. Tattered wings and slashed tail melted back into smooth skinned, bare human shoulders and round, unmarked human buttocks. Talons receded to delicate human hands and feet.

Green eyes, still wide with shock, blinked slowly. Finally focusing on the other woman in the room.

"Fox...?" the hoarse whisper was barely sound, yet it struck Fox with the force of thunder.

Tony Dracon yawned and stretched. It had been a long night. But he wanted to be the first thing Elisa saw when she woke up. He'd already had the staff prepare a breakfast cart. Buttered eggs and cinnamon toast, crisp strips of bacon and a large cup of coffee. The golden apple was buffed to a fine polish, and gleamed on it's own separate little plate. Even if she didn't eat it right away, sometime during the day, Elisa would get hungry enough to snack on the tray. The apple would be the obvious choice after the rest of the food cooled. Until then only Tony would be the only person she saw.

Hel had been very specific about that. One apple. One chance. And he had to be the first and only person she saw after eating the fruit.

"Elisa? Sugar? You awake yet?" Dracon called out as he unlocked the door and pushed the cart inside.

The lump under the covers didn't move. Tony sighed, he probably was going to have to wait awhile before Maza came out of it. He turned around to close the door, and stared at Elisa in a moment of blank surprise, right before she brought down the heavy white object in her hands.

"Yeah Tony, I'm up." Elisa said dumping the toilet cover beside the unconscious mobster, "Too bad you're down for the count, S _ugar_."

Bending down she rifled through his pockets.

Bonanza.

Keys. Money. Gun.

Slipping the first two into the pockets of the black dress she'd changed into, Elisa checked the clip on the third and slipped off the safety. She stared down at Dracon's senseless form, and sighted down the barrel. Her finger tightened on the trigger... then slowly eased off again. No. She couldn't do it like this, not in cold blood. But almost... Oh almost...

Elisa bit her lip and slipped the safety back on the gun before tucking it in her waist band. Quickly and efficiently she tied and gagged the mob boss, leaving him on the floor by the breakfast cart. Checking the room one last time, Maza shifted the make shift carry bag she'd made out of a sheet, onto her shoulder and headed out.

Snagging a piece of fruit from the cart as she went, she couldn't resist a last parting shot.

"Thanks for breakfast Tony. Maybe I'll return the favor someday."

Hel stared at the empty room frowning.

There was no gargoyle statue.

There was no fay half breed prisoner either.

Even if the flame haired woman had managed to escape, how had she taken the gargoyle with her?

To be continued

* * *

**Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Comfort and Complicity**

* * *

**Comfort and Complicity**

**by MooncatX**

**the Bliss Crimson**

**PREVIOUSLY ON GARGOYLES**

_Derek: "From now on, all weapons are banished. In the labyrinth, justice prevails, even for those who don't believe in it. Thanks for the save, Brooklyn. Seems neither of us can escape the role of leader."_

**\- Kingdom**

_Angela: "Humans lock their criminals away in prison. Maybe we could do the same."_

_Goliath: "During the day, Demona is human, and we turn to stone. There's nowhere we could safely guard her."_

_Brooklyn: "I think I know a place."_

_Derek: "Then it's agreed. We will guard the prisoners during the day, and you will stand watch at night."_

**\- The Reckoning**

_Oberon: ...And does your daughter possess magic?_

_Titania: Alas, no. Fox was raised among humans, and whatever magical abilities she might have inherited have withered to nothing._

_Oberon: Can you be so sure?_

_Titania: I have seen her in crisis after crisis. She has a keen mind, but her magic, if she possesses any, has never come to the surface._

_Oberon: It is time to relinquish the child._

_Fox: NO!_

_*Fox Blasts Oberon with a bolt of magic*_

_Puck: You hurt him with that one. Do it again._

_Fox: I-I can't. I'm trying._

_Titania: How did you do that?_

_Fox: I don't know. I don't know._

**\- The Gathering**

_Aphrodite: Whose... hearts... do you seek to entwine?_

_Demona: Xanatos and Elisa Maza!_

_Aphrodite: Set the limits for those who will be subject to the bonds of your passion_

_Demona: Always for all I care! As long as they cannot deny their passion for each other, and must sate their lust well and often._

_Aphrodite: And you accept the ancient bargain? Gift for gift? The price of flesh that I demand?_

_Demona: I do._

**\- The Eros Of Her Ways**

**And then Love shook my heart, like the wind on the mountain, troubling the oak trees.**

**_-Sappho Fragments_ **

**********  
**The Age of Legends...**  
**Sparta**

The eggs rocked violently, drawing gasps of concern from the waiting spectators. Selene stepped forward to steady one trembling mottled sphere. The dark sweep of her hair fell like a veil over her face as she held the warm, fragile shell. Behind her, Sparta's queen was wan and pale from passing the two large eggs and lay all but unconscious on the bloodied sheets of the birthing bed. The other two midwives stood near, each as like to the other as a mirror's reflection, save for the color of their unbound tresses.

"Leda, you've done your part, come, let me take you away." Phoebe spoke softly to the new mother, stroking back a sweat dampened lock from the queen's face; the shade was almost as golden as her own.

Tyndareus strode forth between his wife and the rest of those waiting to bear witness to the royal births.

"No! Let her see what she has labored so hard to bring to this earth. Bring fresh bed linens, wipe her clean if you must, but she will stay," he ordered.

Selene banked the fury she felt at the human's imperious command. They were not here to mete punishment on foolish mortals. This was a matter of kindred blood, and the moment too precarious to take her... their... rightful vengeance. Yet.

"It's cracking." Luna announced, moving to a breaking egg, hands outstretched...

The first egg burst open, and the sudden shock of the cold air sent the two exposed infants wailing. Both tiny bodies were snatched up by the silver haired female and examined thoroughly. Heads, one each. Eyes, nose, mouth, arms, legs, fingers, toes... all the normal allotment for human babies.

"They're perfect!" The exclamation was greeted by an excited buzz from the small crowd and a weary smile from the new mother.

But the second egg had yet to crack, and the crowd held its happiness in check. Who knew if this one would produce precious infant, or some god born monster? There was not a one here who did not think of Crete, and the labyrinth there...

A tiny arm punched through the shell...

Luna, busy cleaning and wrapping up the first two infants, stood back to allow her sisters to attend the second hatching. She gave one of the now safely swaddled bundles to the new mother, and cradled the other in her arms.

This time it took both Phoebe and Selene to peel away the cracked outer shell before the two infants inside could be brought out. Their lungs were as good as the first, and they were just as well formed, if not more so. The female especially, was unusually fair for a new born. Instead of wrinkly red skin, her milky white baby flesh was smooth and soft, and her head was not newborn naked, but covered in finest pale blonde down.

The babble from the clustered courtiers spread out joyously. "Such beautiful, healthy babies! The fates be praised!"

The small party broke into celebration, and even Tyndareus, he of the dark and saturnine countenance, joined in. He had cause to celebrate; his wife had given birth to beautiful children, not deformed monsters as some of the god born were wont to be. No animal features, like the Minotaur, or snakes for hair as the Gorgons were said to have. And even if these were not his own flesh and blood, by raising his wife's divine brood with his own mortal ones, Tyndareus knew he would earn favor with the immortals.

Leda's voice carried tiredly across the room. All four infants were now wrapped in fine linen and one was cradled in her arms. A female infant.

"I like the name Helen..."

**************  
**This Morning**

Dawn was approaching. Goliath had left the main hall before the others, unable to bear the looks of worry and sympathy any longer. They all knew how he felt about Elisa, and he'd found more concerned glances straying in his direction than he could stomach. Soon the rest of the clan would be claiming their customary perches. Forced to keep stony vigil at the Castle, leaving their search to others.

Goliath wanted to roar his protest to the sky, feeling the insidious tingling that heralded the daily stone sleep. The night's efforts had been fruitless. There had been no sign of Elisa, or of who might have taken her... and Fox. Xanatos was taking his wife's disappearance with disturbing aplomb. Despite the initial concern Goliath had seen in the human's dark eyes, the gargoyle was not totally convinced that Elisa was not the victim of another arcane plan by Xanatos.

This was the man who'd placed Fox in mortal danger more than once. The incident with the Eye of Odin was all too fresh in Goliath's mind. If Xanatos would risk the body and soul of the mate he claimed to love, there was nothing to prevent him from ruthlessly using a woman he had no such attachment to. Elisa Maza was little more than an interesting obstacle to David Xanatos, and Goliath did not trust him to bring her out of harms way if she were tangled in one of his machiavellian webs.

As if conjured by the gargoyle's troubled thoughts, David Xanatos approached the brooding male on the Castle's parapet.

"Goliath. I wanted to tell you that all my resources will be at work during the day, and we will find Elisa and Fox."

The confidence in his voice sounded natural, not forced, but its smug certainty wore on Goliath's nerves instead of giving comfort.

"I want to believe that Xanatos, I really do." The gargoyle's deep voice rumbled with misgiving. "And I guess I really have no choice. My clan cannot continue our searching during the day."

"How the limits of your gargoyle nature must grate at times like these," Xanatos commented. His tone pleasant, but his words cut like a knife.

Goliath's eyes narrowed, but he answered truthfully. "I've never held resentment for the stone sleep, not like Demona. It's part of what makes us gargoyles. It is a part of who we are. But yes, if it would help me find Elisa, I would not deny Puck's gift."

"Demona... Interesting that you mention her. I meant to speak with you earlier, about your former mate." Xanatos changed the subject with a slight frown. "She was acting strangely yesterday. Asking about Fox and Elisa."

Xanatos rubbed his face, a little of the fatigue he felt beginning to seep through the facade of unruffled strength, "I've been trying to get ahold of her all night, but she's unreachable..."

"What?!" Goliath's roar of outrage rolled over the Castle's battlements. "Are you saying Demona might have something to do with Elisa's disappearance?!"

Wings unfurled in his rage as he rounded his one time adversary. "How could you have kept this from me? We have been searching all night looking for leads, looking for Dracon, and now you are telling me that Demona could be involved?"

"She kissed me," Xanatos said simply.

"What?" Goliath's surprise reined in his anger. "Who kissed you?"

"Demona. Or maybe I should call her Dominique, since she did it in her human form. She kissed me. Yesterday. In her office." Xanatos smiled. It was almost worth the odd discomfort he'd felt since that afternoon to see the look on Goliath's face. "Passionately."

"I don't understand." The gargoyle voice held an affronted bafflement. "Demona despises humans, no matter what form she is in. Kissing is a human form of affection. I cannot see her being affectionate with any human, much less you. You must be mistaken."

"I don't think there was any mistake about it." Xanatos remembered the feeling of wet heat, and the softness of the woman he'd held in his arms. "The question is not if she kissed me, but why. You're right, it's out of character for her to behave this way. But that kiss... I don't even think she planned it. She nearly had a fit afterwards and threw me out of her office."

"And what has this... kiss, to do with our missing women?" Goliath asked, frowning, the mental image of Demona and Xanatos together was unnerving .

"Maybe nothing. Maybe something. In any case I plan to follow up on it," Xanatos stated.

Noticing the gargoyle's scandalized expression, Xanatos elaborated. "On finding out if Demona has anything to do with Elisa and Fox's disappearance."

The arrival of the rest of the clan ended their conversation. Grim faced, Goliath struck his pose with a growl. As the warm wash of the sun fell across the clan's stone features, Xanatos contemplated the massive gargoyle's expression for a long moment before turning to leave.

**************  
**Now**

"I can't get their scent off of me." Demona's voice shivered through the quiet of the winding hallway.

The glassy stare of the woman's green eyes sent a chill through Fox. She had managed to wipe off most of the sticky residue Hyena and Jackal had left behind. Demona had shuddered beneath Fox's touch, but allowed the other woman to clean her a little before they made their escape. Now Fox wished she could have taken a few more moments and used the lab's hose to truly rinse off the filth. But time had been far too precious, and no amount of water could ever wash away the most important stains. The ones on memory and soul.

"Just a little further," Fox coaxed, supporting Demona as she began to slide down again. "Come on, you're stronger than this. A fighter. Don't you dare lay down on me."

"Screw you, Fox." Demona's reply lacked real bite; she sounded as weak as she felt. "You don't even know where we're going, do you? Any moment we could turn a corner and run straight into Dracon's men, or... " Her voice faltered, but only for a moment, "Or his new hounds."

"That's not going to happen." Fox forced certainty into her voice, "We'll find a way out of this place. We have to. I'm not about to become a pawn in some two bit hood's power play. And unless you want to become a guinea pig, you'll keep on your feet and keep moving."

"What's it to you, Fox?" Demona asked. Eyes beginning to fill with angry tears, she refused to take another stumbling step. Instead, she sank down to her knees, trembling, "Why do you care what becomes of me? You could just leave me here. I'm only slowing you down. I can barely stand, much less run. If the least of Dracon's minions found us now, I wouldn't be able to fight... You'd have a better chance on your own."

The sharp crack of Fox's palm across Demona's cheek echoed through the empty corridor like a shot.

The two women stared each other for a long moment. Fox's face was as pale as alabaster, but her eyes blazed with cerulean fire. "Get up, and keep moving." Fox bit each word off as if they burned, "Or I will leave you here. For the scavengers."

The pure horror on Demona's human face cut deep into Fox's soul, but the flame haired mercenary's face was like stone.

"We don't have time for this, not if we have even a ghost of a chance to get out of this hell," Fox's voice was heartlessly practical.

"I hate you." Demona whispered. Her emerald gaze shimmered with tears.

But when Fox held out her hand, the auburn haired woman took it in a grip tight enough for pain.

"Hate me as much as you want. But if you want to do something about it, we have to get out of here first," Fox said, slipping an arm around the other woman's waist, holding her steady as they began moving again, "After that... I'll let you do anything you want to me. Anything at all."

"It's like a labyrinth," Elisa Maza muttered, biting back the frustrated curses that were building up in the back of her throat.

The dark haired policewoman could find no sense to the layout of rooms and halls she'd already traveled through. She had finally decided to just head down whenever she could find a staircase. If there was an elevator, she hadn't found it yet, only twisting corridors and more rooms. Most of the rooms were empty, bare cubicles of various sizes that were simply gathering dust. Some of the doors, and what windows there were sometimes opened onto solid walls, like a cruel practical joke. Those windows that were clear glass were welded shut, and many of the views conflicted, causing the detective part of Elisa to wonder if they were real windows, or more subterfuge.

Finding another staircase, Elisa headed down again, cautiously keeping an eye out for anyone else. She'd crept past a few patrolling goons already, and counted her blessings that Tony must have left orders not to be disturbed. So far there wasn't any alarm indicating that his trussed up body had been found, but the situation couldn't last forever. She had to find the others and a way out before her luck ran out. Even though she didn't have a watch, Elisa could feel the minutes ticking by like a countdown.

"Hello, what do we have here?" Elisa's dark brown eyes brightened with discovery as the stairway opened into yet another room.

This one wasn't empty. It's walls were covered in monitors, each showing a different room or corridor. Including the one where she had left a very unhappy Anthony Dracon. He'd knocked over the breakfast cart and was working away at the braided strips of cloth Elisa had used as rope. The sharp edged shard of a broken plate was parting the cloth fiber bit by bit. This was not good. Elisa bit her lip, and searched through the other monitors for some sign of Fox and Demona.

"You won't find them that way."

Elisa nearly jumped out of her skin at the familiar chilling tone coming from behind her. Without conscious thought, the gun was in her hand and ready as she turned face the pale blonde woman.

Hel froze at the sight of the weapon.

"Where are they." Elisa's snapped out the question, glaring at Dracon's new partner.

"I wish I knew. I've been searching for them myself, but they aren't showing on any of the monitors. You'd think a naked woman in chains lugging around a stone gargoyle would be easy to spot." Hel sighed, and pushed back a strand of silver blonde hair, "But however Fox is getting past the monitors, I doubt she's managed to escape the building itself. All the exits are welded shut. We had to break open the one we use with blow torches."

She gave Elisa a wintry smile.

"Unlike most of this building, that egress is heavily guarded. Unless your friend has learned to teleport or walk through walls, she cannot escape. And you're still here. Even if Mrs. Xanatos could find a way out, would she abandon you? She couldn't even leave the gargoyle, who must be, quite literally, like a stone around her neck. So I imagine our sweet Fox will be searching for you."

"What is this place?" Elisa asked, keeping the gun trained on the other woman, refusing to be baited. Inside, she guarded a small sense of relief. If Hel didn't know Demona turned human during the day, maybe it was true that Fox had escaped with the transformed gargoyle.

"This? Just a spot where an interested party can keep tabs on all the activities of this building. Dracon has tapped into the security system, but he hasn't found this control room yet. He's only been here long enough to begin unraveling the mysteries here." Hel gestured to the monitor which showed the mob boss making slow, but steady progress in freeing himself., "But I don't doubt he'll get around to exploring. After the wedding."

"There is not going to be any wedding!" Elisa snapped, eyes narrowing. "I don't know what put that crazy idea in Dracon's mind, but believe me, it isn't happening."

"Are you so sure?" Hel tilted her head thoughtfully as she examined the dark haired woman with the gun. "You might be surprised at how love finds a way around all obstacles. Some people have the misconception that love is a gentle thing, easily bruised. But in it's way, love is stronger than chains of iron, and more cruel than death."

"You're bent. You know that, don't you?" Elisa commented as she shifted her stance. "I don't love Dracon. And whatever he feels for me, I don't think it even comes close to love."

"Perhaps. But fate can play strange tricks. Like love, destiny can take you with the stealth of an assassin." Hel's pale eyes clouded with memory. "And nothing can save you once it has hold. Not even knowledge of it's true nature."

Elisa felt a chill trace down her spine.. The whole conversation was beginning to creep her out.

"Look, all I want is to find my friends and get out of here," Elisa spoke sharply, "If you help me, it will go easier for you."

"Are you trying to bargain with me?" Hel's pale eyes flashed with cool amusement. "You'll have to offer me something more concrete if you want my cooperation."

"How about I don't shoot you for starters." Elisa let her voice go hard, her eyes cold and dangerous...

Demona was right. Fox hated to admit it, but they were wandering aimlessly. Too much precious time had passed, and that pale bitch surely had returned to find the examination room empty. Right now, Dracon's men were probably combing the building for them. Even though she was finally shaking off the effects of the drug that Hyena had used on her, Fox had little illusion on her ability to fight while still in chains and burdened with a very traumatized woman. Demona's fierce skill as a warrior was something Fox knew of by reputation. But in the gargoyle's present, human condition, Fox couldn't predict how she might react if they ran into a goon squad. Or worse.

If only the keys to her bonds had been on Hel, like the one to the lab.

Fox shook her head to clear it of the memories that threatened to wash over her. Hel's casual remarks, quiet and clear... So close that Fox still could feel the cool caress of the other woman's breath on her skin. The almost innocent, inhuman observations... Things whispered that had sent ice racing through Fox's veins.

While they watched.

But there was one boon to Hel's terribly intimate proximity. It made it easy for the former Pack leader to lift the key from her pocket. For all the good it was doing them now.

Fox wished her magic lessons had included undoing locks, or something similarly useful. But Owen had started her on simple, childish exercises. She had power. A great deal of it, according to her teacher. What she lacked was the ability to tap into it deliberately. When she did access it, it was only under strong emotional stress, and the results were haphazard at best. Slowly, after months of Owen's ruthless tutoring, she was gaining conscious control of just the tiniest bit of her magical talent. Now was not the best time to test her nascent sorcerous ability. But they were fast running out of options.

What could she use? What did she have? Fox mentally reviewed the small list of spells she knew... Light a candle. Useful as a party trick, but not much else. Float a feather. Again, amusing, but of little use. Hide and seek...

That had not been so much a lesson, as a game. Owen had turned into Puck for that one, and set Alex and Fox against each other in a whimsical round of hide and seek through Castle Wyvern. One would use magic to cloak themselves from those searching for them, while the other would use magic to try and find the one hiding.

Fox had lost the game. Over and over.

But she was desperate. Searching for a place that would offer some temporary concealment, Fox could tell they were in an abandoned building of some sort. Very few of the rooms looked like they were being used, and so far all had been empty. Fox was prepared to take advantage of the fact. Pausing at one of the doorways, Fox checked for signs of occupation. Only settling dust lay within. Satisfied, Fox pulled Demona in with her.

Inside, Fox leaned against a wall and closed her eyes. Deep, cleansing breaths. She pulled her awareness into herself, seeking the center of her being, her magic. Owen's lessons indicated that it could appear like a spring, or pool of water. But no one who tapped magic had exactly the same image. For some, their source was like a tree, or mountain standing sentinel, natural reflections of their inner strength. Others gathered their power over time, and built mighty towers, or carved great canyons which they flooded with magic. But Fox didn't have so much as a pup tent, hill, puddle or flower...

Fox's magic was sleeping shadows, in the form of a great beast. Since finding the inner image, Fox had been careful to draw power out slowly, gently... unwilling to disturb the slumbering darkness. Some primal part of her knew if the shadow beast were to open it's eyes, she would lose herself. Fox had nightmares about it sometimes. Dreams where she woke covered in damp, heated sweat, the taste of fresh blood in her mouth. Dreams where she was the beast.

When David had given her the Eye of Odin as an engagement present, Fox's dreams had been reality.

That wasn't going to happen again. Fox forced the thought from her with single minded ruthlessness. She was just going to tease a little magic out, something the beast wouldn't even notice. She'd done it before. Just the thinnest thread... the faintest whisper...

The beast stirred, and Fox froze, still within her own mind. The darkness sighed, and relaxed once more.

Fox opened her eyes, their cerulean depths bright with unshed tears.

"What are you doing?"

Demona's tired, irritated tone brought Fox back to the situation at hand. The auburn haired woman had sunk down to the floor, back against the wall for support as she watched Fox with reproach.

"Trying to locate Elisa," Fox snapped, angry with herself more than Demona.

"How? By using the force?"

Demona's quiet contempt cut, but Fox refused to let it show on her face.

"By using a spell Puck taught me. But I failed, okay? Happy?" Fox's words were meant to be sarcastic, but somehow the rasp of tears crept in. "I'm lousy at magic. Think you can do better?"

"Any day, human." Demona's slight smile had a bitter edge. "But I don't have anything to use as a conduit. No book or talisman to channel my magic through. I'm surprised you are trying a spell without any ritual objects. That's one sure way to burn out any talent you might have. Only creatures who are by their nature, magical, can work raw magic without harm. Creatures like Puck."

Demona grimaced with distaste, as she continued, "You shouldn't be learning magic from a Fay. Especially that one. Whatever Oberon's Children have a hand in usually has unfortunate consequences. I've learned that lesson all too well. Much to my sorrow."

"I don't care if it burns out my talent, as long as I can get it to work now." Fox frowned, "We need to find Elisa and a way out. I'm willing to try anything."

"You say that too easily human," the harshness in Demona's voice surprised even herself.

The gargoyle sorceress knew of one way to get Fox's spell to work. But it would cost the human dearly. Why did that bother her? Demona frowned at her own hesitation. She had no reason to spare Fox any pain, or damage to what magic the human possessed. And if it would help them escape, it was worth the risk. Yet, it was with reluctance that Demona made the suggestion.

"You could act as my conduit."

"What?" Fox's surprise was tempered with skepticism. "How?"

"You could take the place of the ritual object, and let my power move through you to work the spell." Demona's tone was clipped, slightly hostile as she explained, "If it works... It will be painful. And it could damage your ability to work any kind of magic in the future."

"But you could do it? Use your power through me? Cast the spell we need to find Elisa?" Fox felt a treacherous lifting of spirits.

If it worked, it would be worth the price. She couldn't get her magic to work very well now, maybe ever. Hell, she'd only even known she had magic when Oberon tried to take Alex away from her. She could learn to live without it, if it only would work now, when she needed it.

"Will you do it?"

"Yes." Demona looked away from the fiercely bright hope in the other woman's blue eyes. It hurt to see the human so eager to discard what Demona had sacrificed so much to gain. "We will have to create a link between us."

"How do we do that?" Fox asked, initial enthusiasm ebbing as she remembered what Demona had said about pain.

"There are a number of ways." Demona closed her eyes. She didn't want to say it. The words were like poison on her tongue. "The most simple, and quickest is for you to take some of my blood."

"Blood?" Fox frowned. "How? We don't have anything to cut with. What am I supposed to do, bite you?"

Demona's human face paled, but she opened her eyes and nodded. Fox saw the sickened horror in the shadowed green depths of the other woman's gaze. She felt its echo in her own soul.

"That's just out. What other ways are there?" Fox's kept her tone casual, but something must have shown in her eyes.

"Don't be squeamish human. We don't have a lot to work with. Taking my blood is the fastest way." Demona bristled. "If you want to find Elisa Maza, you'll do what's necessary."

"No! I'm not Hyena, I can't... " Fox bit off her angry retort, turning away with fists clenched, she finished quietly, "I can't savage you like that."

Demona stared. How much did this human know? By the time Hyena and Jackal had finished and left, she'd been too lost in shock to question Fox's presence afterwards. That the former Pack leader had seen the aftermath of her one time companions handiwork was a given. That Fox might have seen more than the remains of the torture and rape session was only now beginning to dawn on the transformed gargoyle. The thought of the human being witness to the vicious debasements she'd suffered made Demona hurt in a totally new way.

"Don't you dare pity me!"

Her voice echoed harshly in the barren room, startling Fox into turning back and staring into the burning emerald fire of Demona's gaze. Some of the renegade gargoyle's normal, furious passion had returned to her demeanor.

"You think some rape and bloodletting has made me weak? That this is the worst of the things I've survived?" she nearly snarled. "I've endured for over a millennia, human, and seen horrors that would strike you blind. This was not the least among my misfortunes, but it is by no means the most terrible."

Demona's voice dropped lower, taking on a vicious edge, "Is it fear of my pain that concerns you? Or your own fear to have my blood in your mouth? Afraid you might like it too much?"

Glaring down at the green eyed woman, Fox was beyond words. Their gazes locked in a silent battle. Finally, Fox sank down to her knees beside the other woman and pushed the tumbled mane of auburn hair away from Demona's shoulders. Unable to keep herself from trembling, Demona shut her eyes and tilted her head so Fox might have the smooth, bared expanse of her throat. With no sharp, piercing canines, Fox would have to tear into the soft flesh with human teeth. Demona willed herself not to whimper as Fox's mouth closed over her.

Fox could sense the pulse beneath Demona's soft, warm skin. Gently licking, she could feel it's frightened flutter. Fox closed her eyes, a sudden, dizzying excitement swept over her. Sweet ache filled her, a terrible longing so intense it was nearly pain. With a wretched cry, Fox pulled away, leaving the throat unmarked.

Blinking, confused, Demona turned to face cerulean blue eyes glittering with tears.

"I can't. You're right, I am afraid." The ragged admission was difficult, but Fox forced it out, "I am afraid that I will enjoy your blood, your flesh... and your pain. I am willing to give up my magic, but I don't want to lose my humanity."

The last came out as a whisper as Fox hung her head, unable to face the scorn she knew would be in Demona's eyes.

Waiting for the acid words of contempt, Fox stayed still for a long moment... but they never came. Slowly, she raised her head, wondering at the gargoyle's silence. And was totally unprepared for the moist, soft press of lips against her own.

Demona's kiss was insistent, and tasted faintly of tears. Fox moaned softly under the gentle assault. A sweet, coppery scent overwhelmed her. Fox opened her mouth in protest, allowing Demona's tongue to slide within. Liquid heat flooded through her body, and Fox melted into the soul kiss with pure surrender. Fire ran through her veins, and the taste of blood was in her mouth. Finally able to pull away, Fox stared at the other woman with a mixture of dazed horror... and desire.

The stain of crimson on Demona's lips told the tale.

"You bit yourself? You're bleeding!" Fox's shocked accusation was met by an equally stunned look.

"You now have a part of my blood in you. Do you still want to be my conduit?" Demona managed to give her words a taunting edge, while trying to ignore the sudden breathless feeling and the furiously rapid beat of her heart.

What Fox wanted, so fiercely it hurt, was to lick away the remaining blood on those tender, mocking lips, suck them clean... then savagely kiss them into submission.

The burning intensity of Fox's gaze made Demona shiver, suddenly uncertain of the wisdom of her impulsive act. She'd only done it to get past the human's foolish inhibitions. The gargoyle had meant the blood laced kiss to be a passionless means to an end. The shuddering warmth of arousal had been a shocking surprise. Fox's heated, passionate response had been unexpected as well.

Demona blinked, as a memory pushed its way from the back of her mind... Aphrodite's spell...

"Use me."

Demona started at Fox's words, but realized the other woman was answering her question.

"Recite your spell, act as my grimorum as I channel my power through you." Demona took charge of the moment, clasping hands with the other woman and trying to quell the increasingly confused feelings of desire she was feeling for Fox.

Fox's mouth went dry, but she spoke slowly and clearly, her voice taking on a familiar cadence. She repeated the words exactly as Puck had declaimed them.

_"To learn our lessons, let's play a game,_  
_To hide and seek shall be our aim,_  
_Find your loved one with magic's sight_  
_Heart to heart link strings of light,_

_But easy seeking shall not be,_  
_For magic's cloak I grant to thee,_  
_To shield you from all prying eyes,_  
_Only stronger talent through this descry_

_So hide you, seek you, the spell is wound_  
_Let magic bind you till hidden's found"_

Light wrapped around the two women, rushing through them like a warm wind. Like the most intimate of caresses... Fox shuddered under the sudden sensual assault, the spell had not been like this before, when Puck had cast it. Hearing a whimpering cry, she turned her attention to Demona, and saw the other woman shaking with denial, head whipping back and forth as light streamed over her, into her, invading her very essence.

"Stop, make it stop!" Demona's ragged plea roused Fox from an almost trance like state.

Instinctively, she reached out to Demona, holding tight until the other woman ceased struggling and returned the embrace. The light continued to pass through them, but less wildly, the steady, relentless stroking bringing their hearts into the same rhythm. Demona sobbed violently, unable to bear the intensity of the magic pressing in and out of them. It was too much, too soon...

Fox took in Demona's anguished cries into herself with a kiss.

Returning the kiss with desperate fervor, Demona found the press of their bodies together made the flood of magic between them just on the edge of bearable. The moments ticked by with the weight of centuries. Slowly, the power receded to more acceptable levels. Demona continued to cling to Fox, trembling like a leaf in the wind. The kiss that had begun out of necessity grew gentler, tender... When the other woman pulled away, Demona felt a disappointment as keen as pain.

"It's over, I think."

Fox's breathy pronouncement was hard to understand through the roaring of the blood in her veins, but Demona nodded in agreement. Not yet trusting herself to speak, Demona rose on unsteady legs, trying to fathom what had just occurred. She'd never felt so much magic all at once in her entire life. It wasn't human magic.

"Fay." Green eyes blazing, Demona breathed the word like a curse, "You didn't tell me you were fay!"

In the scrying grove of Avalon, Luna lifted her silver head, sensing the change in the ether. The air was heavy, and full of the promise of storms.

Nearby, golden haired Phoebe cocked her head to one side, listening to the sound of shifting stings of fate. The newly plucked notes ringing through her heart.

Selene continued to stare into the scrying pool. The shadow fall of her black hair shielding the shifting scenes. Aphrodite's collusion with Coyote before Oberon's Mirror. Titania's half-breed daughter and the gargoyle in human form sharing blood and power, and finally to a familiar, winter pale cousin facing the policewoman, Elisa Maza.

"Something's changed." Luna spoke with passionless calm, but her eyes gleamed with interest.

"Something unforeseen." Phoebe's voice was full of surprised wonder.

Selene was oddly silent, but she smiled, moving her hand across the water, letting the ripples of her wake distort and wash away the images.

"You didn't ask." Fox replied mildly, still disoriented, "I'm only partly fay. Does it matter?"

"Does it matter?! You fool, of course it matters! Mixing magics is one of the most dangerous and unpredictable things possible..." Demona's tirade was cut short as a wave of sickening weakness passed over her.

Moaning, she fell against the wall, trying to keep herself from collapsing.

"Demona!" Fox's concern was met with a glare, but she didn't let that stop her from going to the shaking gargoyle, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong human," Demona snarled softly, unable to rebuff the supporting embrace of Fox's arms, "Our spell is working. Look."

Puzzled, Fox glanced to where Demona was pointing. But she saw nothing beside the empty room's disturbed dust.

"Not with your eyes. Look with your magic. Open your senses with your talent, and see what we have wrought." the gargoyle's voice was near to weeping with weariness, but she refused to succumb to the draining feeling that threatened to drag her into oblivion.

Fox frowned, but with some effort, let that part of her Owen had called her mage sense rise to the surface. The real world became slightly fuzzy, the sensation not unlike letting her eyes go unfocused, but the slightly cloudy view was pieced with sharp bands of light, strands of red and blue that streamed from both women, mingling into a thin stream of violet which stretched from them and led out of the room.

"Our guide to Elisa Maza." Demona's stated, "Follow the threads, and it should lead us right to her."

"You have iron in your soul, Elisa Maza." Hel's voice was thoughtful, as she eyed the detective, "I should have seen it before. A shame Dracon didn't give you to me with the other two. What a fascinating study you'd make."

Elisa forced herself to breath slowly, evenly, and not pull the trigger.

"If you shoot, you'll alert this entire building to your escape." Hel continued, arms folded casually, "Can you afford that? Are you willing to risk your chance of freedom for these two? Why? What are they to you?"

"They are people I care about. And that's all the answer you need." Elisa's tone was grim, "Now tell me, how do I find them?"

"You could turn around."

The familiar voice hit Elisa like a bolt of pure energy, shocking through her system.

"Fox... ?"

Turning in surprise, Elisa met a strained, but triumphant gaze as Fox entered the room. The sudden fierce joy the dark haired police woman felt was quickly followed by alarm as Hel took that moment to slip past, heading for the stair case Elisa had entered from.

"Stop!" her shout rang out, but the pale blonde was out of sight before the sound even died away.

"Let her go." Fox said, reaching out to prevent Elisa from giving chase, " We need to get out of here now."

"What... " Elisa's question died as she looked past Fox, at the trembling figure clutching the door frame for support.

The last time the dark haired detective had seen Demona in human form, they had been trying to beat the hell out of each other. This pale, fragile woman was a far cry from the furiously vibrant opponent so bent on proving her superiority over Elisa that long ago noon.

"She's fading fast Elisa." Fox's voice lowered, "We cast a spell to find you, and somehow it's draining her. I don't know how to stop it. But if we don't get her to help soon, I'm afraid she'll go comatose on us."

"Do you know the way out?" Elisa asked, dragging her eyes from Demona's vulnerable, human nudity, to meet Fox's concerned gaze. "I've been running through this building like a rat in a maze. Only there is no cheese in sight."

Fox's expression darkened, she'd hoped Elisa would have an idea of where the exit was, but it seemed the detective was as lost as well. A flicker of movement on the monitors behind Elisa caught Fox's attention.

"Isn't that Tony Dracon?" Fox asked.

Turning, Elisa felt a surge of dread. The mob boss had finally cut through his bonds.

"This is bad. If Hel hasn't already sent a goon squad here, Dracon will have his men combing the building for us in a matter of moments." Elisa's expression was as bleak as her voice, until she realized Fox wasn't listening.

The flame haired mercenary was studying the array of monitors with an assessing gaze. Fiercely intent blue eyes followed Tony Dracon's progress from monitor to monitor, tracking the mobster's progress from room to hall, and from hall to stair case. Elisa's breath caught as she made the same connection.

The monitors each showed a specific part of the building in an ordered layout. Like a map.

"This is where we are," Fox pointed to one screen, "I'm sure of it. This is the hallway Demona and I just came through. This section of wall... "

"Hides an elevator shaft." Elisa finished, her eyes shining with excitement, "Even if the elevator doesn't work, there's a service ladder, and it looks like it's a straight shot down." Her gaze followed the descending line of monitors to the base of the shaft. "To a sub-basement area."

"Do you see what I see?" Fox's voice was hushed, but the intensity gave it more force than a shout.

Elisa's gaze sharpened on the shadows of the sub-basement's floor.

"A sewer grate?" The police detective's voice shook with restrained emotion.

"A way out." Fox's voice held the sharp certainty of necessity.

"No trace?" Xanatos couldn't keep the disbelief out of his voice as his sharp, assessing gaze raked over his blonde aide de camp. "What do you mean, no trace?"

"Exactly what I said, Sir." Owen reported, the faintest trace of frustration in his usually dead pan tone, "I resumed tutoring young Alex in the art of scrying this morning, but we couldn't locate his mother Fox, or Elisa Maza."

"And Demona?"

Xanatos tried to keep his voice dispassionate, but there was a heated intensity in his dark gaze that worried Owen.

"No, no sign of Demona either. When we couldn't connect to her personally, we practiced scrying using both her place of business and her home. Apparently her underlings were not expecting her disappearance either. They are covering as best they can, but her unexpected absence is throwing things at Nightstone Unlimited into turmoil."

"I'll bet." Xanatos muttered, remembering how his repeated attempts to reach Dominique Destine had been met with flustered evasion by Nightstone's secretarial staff. "So Demona is missing as well. I can't imagine her not contacting her staff if she planned to be gone."

"That would be a logical assumption, Sir." Owen agreed, pressing a finger tip to the bridge of his glasses. Shrewd blue grey eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "But her disappearance may have nothing to do with Fox and Miss Maza."

"I don't believe in coincidence, Owen." Xanatos spoke sharply, "Not under circumstances like these."

"Then shall we proceed with our other options?" Owen inquired, resuming his reserved expression of bland interest.

David Xanatos frowned, but nodded. "After all, it's not as like they've somehow fallen off the face of the planet. Do whatever it takes, Owen, but find them. Find her."

"So, do you think there really are alligators down here?" Fox's softly voice question echoed oddly through the subterranean tunnels.

"I hope not. The last thing we need is urban legends proving themselves real while we're slogging through the sewers."

The dark haired woman's clipped reply brought drew Fox's attention back to the New York police detective. Elisa was on the other side of Demona, helping Fox to support the faltering woman. Demona had managed to make it down the to the sewer grate with them without complaint, but the strain had been visible. Her human form was naturally pale skinned, but her current pallor worried the former mercenary greatly. Elisa's dusky gold complexion was a startling contrast, and Fox found an equally concerned look in the detective's dark eyes. They shared an exchange of troubled glances as the woman between them sagged for a moment, then stumbled back to her feet.

Demona had allowed them to dress her in the extra clothes Elisa had liberated from Dracon's closet, but had shown little interest in the process. It had been like dressing a doll. The simple skirt and matching green tunic fit poorly, but it covered the transformed gargoyle's nakedness. Fox herself had not been able to get around the chains attached to her wrist cuffs. They abandoned the clothes Elisa had brought for her, and simply wrapped the silk sheet the police woman had been using as a sack, into a toga like wrap. Modesty once more intact, they'd descended into the subterranean tunnels beneath the building that had been their prison. The darkness had been stifling. Only the faint luminescence from odd lichen like growth on the walls allowed them to see anything at all.

They'd been wandering through the maze of abandoned tunnels searching for longer than Fox liked, but at least there was no sign of any pursuit. Most likely Dracon's people had no idea the three women had found a way out, and were still combing the huge complex of empty rooms they'd left behind. The elevator shaft had been concealed, and the sewer grate probably wouldn't be discovered for some time. Fox prayed that they would find a way to back to the familiar streets of New York soon, for all their sakes, but most especially for Demona's.

At first, the proud, gargoyle renegade had refused Elisa's offer of assistance in making it through the sewer tunnels. But after realizing that she was severely slowing their escape, Demona acquiesced with thinly veiled disgust. But now, even the humiliating experience of having to cling to the policewoman who she'd failed to slay so many times past, faded from Demona's scope of thought.

The human guised gargoyle had hoped finding Elisa would end Fox's spell, and with it the strange drain of energy that plagued her since its casting. It disturbed her that the bands of mage light that had led them to the detective had only dimmed, but not disappeared once the women were reunited. Fox did not seem to see them anymore, having released her mage sight the moment they'd run into Elisa. But Demona still saw them, the lingering threads of magic that tied their fates together. Part of the gargoyle worried that the threads were now permanent.

But Demona's main concern now was her failing strength. Never before had she taken so long to recover any kind of attack. From brutal physical damage to the most subtle poison, Demona had weathered them all and regained her vitality with unnatural quickness. Demona hadn't realized until now how much she'd come to rely on the more beneficial effects of the immortality that tied her to Macbeth. Had linking with Fox and her cursed half fay nature somehow screwed up the spells already in place? Or was the disastrous mixing of different kinds of magic having some terrible side effects? Demona fought to keep her growing sense of fear from overwhelming her. She would prefer to die than allow the humans see her break down in hysteria... but that wasn't even an option.

"Did you hear that?" Fox's harsh whisper jolted Demona into painful alertness.

Elisa slipped away, letting Fox hold the gargoyle steady. The gun out and ready in her hand, the dark haired policewoman took the point. Light, blindingly bright swept up from around a corner, forcing the women to cover their eyes. As their vision adjusted, winged silhouettes approached.

"Elisa?" a familiar male voice rang out.

"Derek?!"

The surprise and fierce relief in Elisa's voice was echoed in the clamour of greetings and questions from the three mutates who surrounded them. Derek Maza, called Talon by the band of mutates and humans who looked to him as their leader, gathered his sister into a strong embrace. Almost sobbing with her happiness, Elisa returned the hug, pressing her face against his warm, furred cheek. The deep rumbling purr of her younger brother startled Elisa, but she didn't loosen her hold until he pulled away to examine her.

"Sis, you had us all so worried." Derek's voice was full of concern, "How did you wind up down here? Goliath's clan has all but torn the city apart looking for you."

"Brooklyn came by during the night and told us you were missing." Maggie, the more delicate looking feline mutate added, "And that Dracon, your enemy, might have taken you."

Derek's expression became more reserved as his gaze swept over the other two women. "And Fox Xanatos. But he didn't mention her."

Green eyes smoldered with emotion as Demona watched the panther like mutate warily. The last time they'd seen each other was during the battle with Thailog in the abandoned amusement park. Before that, Talon had been one of her jailers, while she'd been imprisoned in the Labyrinth for months. She had no love for the genetically transmogrified human.

"We've long since repaired the damage from her escape. Her old cell is secure and waiting." Talon spoke with a trace of a growl, as he gestured for Maggie and Claw to move in on the auburn haired woman.

Despite being in human form, Demona's hiss was pure gargoyle. Fox felt the other woman tense, prepared to go down fighting, however futile the effort would be in her weakened condition.

"No!" Elisa's outburst forestalled her brother's command, and he turned to her in surprise.

"Demona... She needs medical attention. Derek you can't keep her prisoner here. It wasn't something I approved of before, and I can't allow it now. It... just wouldn't be right." The dark haired policewoman spoke with as much firm authority as she could muster.

"She's dangerous Elisa. Hell, she's tried to kill you more than once! Brooklyn and the rest of the gargoyle clan has told us of the many heinous crimes she's responsible for. As leader of the Labyrinth, I don't know if I can just let her go free." Talon huffed, not understanding his sister's protective stance as she moved between him and the other woman, "Even if she's in your custody now Elisa, I can't take the chance that she won't cause some terrible harm later on."

"Harm? I'll show you harm human." Demona tried to shake free from Fox's support, but a sudden bout of dizziness had her swaying on her feet. Fox held the trembling woman in an enfolding embrace, and threw a reproachful look at the panther like leader of the mutates.

"You don't have the right to keep her here against her will, Talon. Despite being leader of this underground kingdom, Demona isn't one of your subjects and you don't have any legal authority to hold her captive."

Fox's sharp words caused Talon's feline ears to fold back in anger, and he snarled at the flame haired woman.

"Legal authority? I guess I should expect the wife of Xanatos to hide behind that. The fact of the matter is that people like Demona and your husband can't be reached by the normal system of law which protects people. You use your wealth and power to bend the law to your own ends, making it a shield for your crimes. Sometimes those of us who can, have to make our own law, and enforce it, to find justice."

"Derek!" Elisa's voice cut across her brother's emotional tirade, "Tell me you don't mean that. I know you weren't happy as a cop, but the flawed as it is, I am still a part of the legal system."

"And I respect your for that Elisa," Talon turned to his sister, "But even you ignore the system when it comes to protecting your friends and family. I'm just taking things one step further. Forgive me Elisa, but I can't let you leave with that woman. Maggie, Claw, escort Demona back to her old cell. I'll see to Mrs. Xanatos and my sister."

The two mutates looked at each other, troubled, but moved to obey their leader. Elisa watched with growing alarm as Fox dropped into a fighting stance, the chains at her wrists held in her hands like a garrote, leaving Demona to sink to ground, green eyes wide and incredulous. Things were getting out of hand quickly. The joy Elisa had felt at running into her brother was fast becoming horror. As a blue arc of electricity crackled around the hand Derek thrust out towards Fox, Elisa made her choice. Feeling a suspicious wetness at her eyes, she raised her weapon. Maggie and Claw froze at the sight of the gun aimed in their direction, but it was the look on Derek's face that hit Elisa like a blow.

"Elisa?!" Talon's voice held a stunned disbelief as his sister made her stand.

"I meant it when I said I can't allow you to take Demona prisoner. Someday Demona will have to face the consequences of her crimes, but not right now, and not at your hand." Elisa's voice rasped as she fought back tears of frustration. "Derek, you're my brother, and I love you. Please, don't force me to make a choice between you and what I believe is right."

"This means that much to you?" Talon's voice rumbled softly as he stared at the sister who was like a stranger to him.

"It does." Elisa's words held absolute certainty.

She watched Tony Dracon tear into his people for their incompetence. They'd found the open sewer grate after hours of searching, but no sign of the escaped women. The glower on the mob boss's face had grown with each incoming report, but there was nothing he could really do. After all the time that had passed, it was likely his would be bride had made it beyond his reach... for the time being.

"So, do we abandon this base of operations?" Glasses asked, watching Dracon with a new wariness.

"Yes. Even if the sewer tunnels are like a maze, once Maza and her girlfriends make it out, I'm not going to chance that they won't be able to back track to find this place." Dracon dismissed the rank and file, but continued to speak privately with his right hand man. "Still, whatever Elisa Maza does, I don't think she'll bring the law into it this time. There are things she and her friends won't want coming out into the open."

"Forget the law, Tony. What about her pet monsters? If she can identify this place, Maza will send her winged goon squad in to raze it to the ground." Glasses snorted in disgust, "Not to mention what Xanatos may do."

"Be at ease," the pale blonde female finally spoke, moving forward to join the conversation, "If the gargoyles come, they will find far more than they are expecting. This place is uniquely qualified for our purpose. And it's defenses are... considerable. As for Xanatos, why don't you leave that part of the problem to me?"

The soft chill of her voice was oddly soothing. Anthony Dracon's sense of self preservation struggled sluggishly against the weight of his partner's persuasion. He locked gazes with the woman he knew as Hel. Hard black eyes met winter blue, and Tony realized his mistake too late. The serpent in his soul stretched and sighed...

The unflappability of New York Taxi drivers never failed to amaze Elisa. Their cab driver hadn't so much as blinked at condition of his latest fare's clothes, or their lack of shoes. And blessedly, made no comment about the sewer aroma that continued to cling to them. The New York cop part of her wondered if he'd have asked about Fox's cuffs and chains, if Claw hadn't gotten them off at the Labyrinth. Derek had tried to talk his sister into staying in there until dark, when Goliath's clan could come for them. But after the initial show down, Elisa couldn't accept the offer. And if Derek reacted so badly to Demona, the policewoman didn't even want to think of what would happen with the gargoyles.

She glanced over to the woman who lay barely conscious in Fox's arms. Elisa had wanted to take the weak and still trauma worn female to a hospital. But Demona had nearly had a fit of hysterics when the police woman had broached the subject. All things considered, Elisa couldn't blame her for not wanting to be admitted. The double edged sword of secrecy was cutting deeply today. Even if she'd been willing, Demona couldn't report the rape and torture she'd endured without revealing her inhuman nature. With Quarrymania rampant, even the suspicion that a gargoyle who could pass as human was something even the police woman dreaded becoming public.

As for the kidnapping, Elisa didn't know how to bring charges against Dracon and his people without putting her friends and herself at unacceptable risk. She could only thank the powers that be Fox and herself had come out of the whole ordeal undamaged. She hoped. Fox had been very quiet about what had happened to her after Hyena had dragged her away. Even when the former actress had flashed a reassuring smile, trying to deflect Elisa's concern, the police woman's gut instinct had told her there was more than what Fox was willing to admit.

When Elisa had suggested the Eyrie building, and Xanatos, the stricken look on Fox's face set warning bells off. But the flame haired woman had recovered her composure quickly enough, and agreed that the Castle might be the best place to get Demona help. The only magic users in the city they knew of were Owen and baby Alex. That idea had only set Demona off all over again. Despite the fact she could barely stand on her own, she'd demanded that they just go their separate ways.

Fox and Elisa had exchanged glances, and each knew that they weren't going to be leaving Demona to her own devices any time soon. The deathly pale and shaky woman was in no condition to be by herself. So here they were, in this cab headed to the female gargoyle's city residence. Shifting in her seat uneasily, the dark haired detective tried to ignore the gnawing sense of guilt that had settled in the bottom of her stomach. With all that had happened during the night, Elisa knew that she had been the lucky one.

Lost in her own thoughts, the sudden stopping of the cab came as a surprise. Blinking, Elisa took in the somber dignity of the large house surrounded by a black iron fence. So this was this was where Demona lived?

Paying off the cabbie with Tony's money, Elisa let her eyes sweep the sky. How late was it? It seemed an eternity since she'd first opened her front door to let in a woman she considered a criminal, and wife of the most diabolical man Elisa knew; the woman who in a single night had become if not a friend, Elisa's lover. The sunlight streaming down was almost mocking. It couldn't be more than mid afternoon, if that late. Such a short space for so much to have happened, the good and the bad.

"Elisa!" Fox's urgent call alerted the dark haired detective to situation at the doorway. Demona had fainted. Hurrying over Elisa helped with the door as Fox carried the unconscious woman inside.

"Do you need help?" Elisa asked, envying the soldier's strength Fox's fashion model looks concealed.

"No, she hardly weighs anything, " Fox's voice held an edge of worry, "This may sound strange, but... it's like she isn't all here."

"What do you mean?" The concern in Elisa's voice warred with her curiosity. Without even thinking about it, she moved close, reaching out to stroke the back of her hand against the soft smoothness of Demona's human cheek. "She feels like she's all there to me."

Elisa had encountered Demona in many situations, but never had she seen the the female gargoyle so... vulnerable.

Long, silky lashes fluttered open, and green eyes stared up into Elisa's fascinated, dark gaze.

"I want a bath." Demona's statement was faint, but precise.

Elisa and Fox exchanged another look.

"Please...?" Demona's hesitant addition rocked her nemesis more than any previous tirade or attack from the human hating gargoyle.

"Well, I don't think it can hurt, and we could all use the chance to wash off." Fox spoke consideringly, then her voice went curiously flat. "It's not like we have to preserve... evidence."

The years of police procedure ingrained in Elisa's soul protested, but she nodded. "I'll go find the washroom and start running water."

"Matt Bluestone is not available right now, but if you leave a message after the tone he'll get back to you as soon as possible."

beep. beep. beep. Beeeeeep!

"Matt? This is Elisa. I wanted to let you know Dracon is out of prison. He... invited me for a personal talk last night. I've declined his hospitality, but I wanted to let you know I'm okay for now. I'd appreciate it if you could let our friends know I'm fine. Fox too. My brother told me everyone was up all night searching for us. Derek is sending a messenger to the castle, but I thought I'd call and let you know myself. I still don't entirely trust Xanatos, so if you could stop by and make sure everyone knows we're okay, I'll owe you one. Sorry I couldn't get you in person. I'll try calling again later. Bye"

Racing from the bedroom, Matt dived for his phone just as the dial tone flattened out...

"But Derek, I can fly over to the Eyrie Building now. Why wait for dusk?" Maggie asked, rubbing the muscular, dark furred shoulder of her leader with her cheek.

"I don't want to you to take unnecessary risks. Flying over the city during the day will draw unnecessary attention. Dusk will be better." Talon stroked Maggie's tawny mane, "Besides, Goliath and his clan won't even be awake until the sun goes down anyway."

"But what about Xanatos? He'll want to know his wife is safe. Shouldn't we get the news over right away?" Maggie ventured, arching her neck under the increasingly pleasurable caress, "We could send one of the street people... "

"No. We don't owe Xanatos anything. I'm only alerting Goliath's clan as a favor to Elisa. Xanatos can stew in his own juices for all I care." The growl in Derek's voice stilled any more questions.

Maggie let out of purr of pleasure as Derek pushed the simple tunic she wore from her shoulders, and lowered his head to groom the line from the hollow of her throat, to the valley between her breasts... All thoughts of messages faded beneath the more immediate need of growing heat...

Elisa watched the tub fill with hot, scented water. She couldn't help but stare with a faintly horrified fascination. It was a sunken white marble pool with gleaming gold plated fixtures, and as big as a small nation. The New York policewoman had never seen such a large bath, and while on duty she'd been through several five star hotels and the homes of the wealthy before. Hot tubs, jacuzzi tubs, tubs that could hold an entire family, the dark haired detective thought she had encountered them all. Until now.

"Wow." Fox's exclamation echoed Elisa's thoughts.

"Were you able to get ahold of your husband?" Elisa asked, glad she wasn't the only one who was impressed with Demona's bathing facilities.

"I've tried calling David's private line, but it's tied up. I left a voice mail though." Fox answered absently rummaging through the selection of bath crystals and oils, a wealth of expensive, ornate glass jars and bottles set out on gleaming white shelves along the walls.

"Did you tell him where you were?" Elisa asked, and wondered if she should have told Matt. But she had decided not to alarm her partner, or the clan unnecessarily, and risk them bursting in out of concern for her safety. While Demona had tried to kill Elisa in the past, the dark haired detective didn't think the gargoyle was going to be a threat any time soon.

"Yes. Sort of." Fox's expression was evasive, "I told him I was with you. I guess... it didn't occur to me to mention that we were with Demona."

Elisa frowned, "Fox, is something wrong?"

"No. Of course not." Fox's blue eyes slipped away from Elisa's questioning gaze, "The water level looks high enough, I'll go get..."

Elisa reached out and stopped the other woman's exit. "I'm sorry."

Surprise flickered across Fox's face. "For what?"

"For everything. You getting dragged into that nightmare. Dracon wanted me, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Elisa took a breath, but forced the rest of her thoughts out, "If you hadn't been with me, if we hadn't been... together. Whatever happened to you there... it's my fault."

Fox stared at the shamed guilt evident on Elisa's face. Shaking her head, the Fox laid her palm against Elisa's face. "No, it's not. Elisa, I wouldn't trade our time together for anything. Our lovemaking didn't cause Dracon to come after us. And any harm last night can be laid on the bad guys alone. What happened to us was not your fault."

The dark haired detective searched Fox's face, but saw only sincerity in her cerulean blue eyes. Something that had been tightening painfully around Elisa's heart relaxed it's grip. When Fox leaned in, Elisa met her gentle kiss with a passionate intensity that caught them both in surprise. For a long moment, they lost themselves in each other.

Demona watched from the doorway, an odd mixture of envy and warmth coursing through her veins. She was reluctant to interrupt the tender moment, but the bath water was continuing to rise from the high pressure faucets that created a small waterfall at one end of the pool. Too much longer, and the heated water would over flow the bath basin. A terrible longing to sink into the heated bath swept over the watching woman.

Fox had helped strip her of the clothes Elisa had taken from Dracon. Demona had thrown them into the trash, planning to burn them the first chance she got. Her blood felt like water in her veins, the weakness that had caused her to collapse threatened to pull her into the abyss once more. But even if she drowned, Demona intended to wash Hyena and Jackal's touch off her skin.

Demona gave the door frame a hard rap, and watched Elisa and Fox startle and pull apart. Faces flushed, they were a picture of guilty pleasure.

"If you can spare a moment from making out, would one of you turn off the water?" Demona couldn't help the mocking tone in her voice. "Before there's a flood?"

Her dusky complexion taking on the ruddy glow of embarrassment, Elisa hurriedly reached out to shut off the water valves. Demona slowly, but without help, walked to the edge of the bath, and gingerly attempted step into the water. Here her balance failed her, and only Fox's quick interception kept the proud gargoyle from falling face forward into the steaming water.

"I can handle a bath by myself!" The auburn haired woman snapped at Fox.

"That isn't a bath, it's an inland sea with an identity crisis." Fox's voice was infuriatingly calm. Shaking back her own flame colored hair, Fox released Demona for a moment to undo the tied ends of the toga like sheet she still wore. The silken cloth fell to the ground without a sound, "We all need to wash, and there certainly is room for all of us."

Elisa gaped, as Fox slid into the bath, and turned to hold her arms out for Demona. The gargoyle's human face was a study of outrage, and strangely, relief. Muttering something shockingly rude under her breath, Demona took advantage of Fox's help to enter the scented water. They stood together in the deeper end of the bathing pool, the water lapping just above their hips. Throwing a muted glare towards the police woman who stood abandoned near the golden faucets, the gargoyle came to a decision with a resigned frown.

"You might as well get in too." Demona's irritation was clear, but she extended a hand in invitation, "You can make yourself useful and scrub my back."

Frowning, Elisa bit back the retort that sprang to her lips. The water did look wonderful. She watched as Fox reached out to an ornate, golden soap dish and take one of the translucent glycerin rose buds. Wetting the ornamental soap flower, the flame haired woman began to rub it into a lather. It took little effort to produce a rich creamy froth. When Fox began to rub the soapy cream onto Demona's water slick skin, Elisa felt her mouth go dry.

Fox's touch was gentle, yet firm and very thorough. If Demona had any initial protest, it quickly died under the soothing pleasure of being soaped by someone who treated bathing with true sensuality. Her green eyes were half lidded with unexpected enjoyment, Demona felt the sapping weakness abate, a new, pleasant lassitude replacing the feeling of sickness that had settled over her since casting Fox's spell. Sighing, she sank down into the heated water, dropping beneath the surface for a moment, to soak her mass of auburn hair. Fox waited for Demona to surface, and began to work the soapy lather into the other woman's hair once she emerged from the perfumed water.

"Come on in, Elisa." Fox coaxed the dark haired detective, who hovered at the edge of the bath.

The uncertain look on Elisa's face gave way to curiosity as Demona made a noise suspiciously like a mew of pleasure. Cagney made that sound sometimes, when he was being pampered. The sight of Demona arching under Fox's hands like a pleased cat was too tempting to resist. Mentally scolding herself, Elisa stripped off the black dress and kicked it away. She entered the water quickly, before she could think herself out of it. It was very warm, and silky with the perfumed oils. Elisa had poured in a little of everything that had been set on the counter closest to the bath. The mix was surprisingly nice, a blend of honeysuckle, night blooming jasmine, and something that reminded Elisa of almonds. It was an exotic seduction of the senses, and Elisa found herself breathing deeply as she waded over towards Fox and Demona.

The water deepened with each step, and Elisa soon found herself waist deep by the time she got to where the other women were bathing. "Why is your bath so big?" the detective asked, reaching for a loofah sponge.

"I like to have wing room." Demona answered absently, too intent on Fox's massaging hands working the soap into her auburn mane to fully realize that Elisa was moving in close with the sponge.

When the damp roughness began working in a circular motions on her back, the gargoyle leaned into the scrubbing with an unintentional purr. This was nice. This was very nice. Demona's green eyes blinked open to find the dark chocolate of Elisa's gaze intent on her face.

The police woman flushed and looked away, continuing to scrub gently at Demona's soapy, water slick back Elisa was confused by the feelings of attraction she was having. Had making love with Fox tripped some hidden switch in her psych? Was she going to start lusting for every attractive woman she met? And Demona was attractive. Gargoyle form or human... Elisa trembled as she realized how powerfully affected she was by the close proximity of the female gargoyle. The damp and soapy naked flesh beneath the sponge shifted, and Elisa froze as she found herself facing a pair of full, rounded... Flustered she looked up into an amused emerald gaze.

"Don't stop, do the front too." Demona chided, taking the detective's hand in her own and lifting it to the valley between her breasts, "Don't look so shocked. It's only flesh."

"I'm not shocked." Elisa regained her composure, "I'm just not used to bathing in groups."

She renewed her scrubbing, trying to ignore the soft, pleased sounds coming from the woman under her hands when the soapy sponge covered the tender flesh of her breasts, grazing the jutting, ruddy tips. The gentle swelling of the dark red nipples was distracting, Elisa shifted her gaze away and found Fox's cerulean blue eyes watching intently. Her soft coral lips were slightly parted, and a flush was rising in her cheeks. A helpless shudder passed through the dark haired woman as she realized that Fox too was also feeling the insidious stirring of arousal.

The steam rising up from water was making the room misty. There was an almost dreamlike quality to the moment when Demona took the loofah from Elisa's unresisting hands and began to return the favor by scrubbing Elisa's shoulders. The wet roughness of the sponge soaping her skin caused Elisa's eyes to widen, then flutter shut as Demona worked over the sensitive area at the nape of the detective's neck.

"You have lovely skin. For a human." Demona's comment was devoid of the rancor Elisa was used to. In fact, her voice seemed almost affectionate.

When the sponge began working it's way downward, Elisa found it increasingly difficult to breath. Fox had found the bath controls beneath the soap dish, and turned on the water jets. A froth of bubbles rose up and Elisa felt a tickling, weightless feeling. Demona's sighs of appreciation whispered softly by Elisa's ear as the other woman drew closer to the dark haired detective.

"If you aren't used to hot tubs," Demona spoke softly, her eyes going half lidded with pleasure, "You'll need to be careful and not get light headed. It's a delicious feeling, isn't it?"

"It isn't bad." Elisa managed to speak with a casual shrug, "I can see it's helping you feel better."

It was true, some of the color had returned to the gargoyle's human complexion, the flush of pink giving her a healthier glow. Demona tilted her head thoughtfully and took stock of her physical condition. She did feel better. Not a hundred percent yet, but a far cry better than before she had entered the water. When had she begun to recover her strength? Brow furrowed in thought, Demona couldn't pin down the moment when she had begun to feel better. Taking a few steps back to consider, Demona felt the new feeling of recovery fade noticeably. Realization widened her green eyes as she slowly returned to where Elisa was watching with a puzzled curiosity.

"It's not the bath." Demona's voice wavered.

Elisa saw the genuine distress in the other woman's trembling lips, and troubled eyes. Without thinking she reached out and gathered Demona into a comforting embrace.

"What's going on?" Fox asked, having returned with another soap flower, her long red hair soaked and clinging damply to her shoulders.

Demona didn't answer, only pressed closer to Elisa, tears streaking down her cheeks. The dark haired police woman looked at Fox helplessly and shook her head in ignorance. She didn't know any more than Fox did, but when the auburn haired woman in her arms began to shake with sobs, Elisa thought she understood. The memory of what she had seen on the monitor in Dracon's bedroom replayed behind the detective's dark eyes. Blinking, Elisa felt her own tears well up. When she felt another pair of arms wrap around them both, Elisa welcomed the warmth of her Fox's embrace. Together they held Demona while violent sobs wracked through her deceptively fragile human frame.

It never occurred to them that Demona was weeping over more than her recent rape and torture. She could still see the lines of light twisting between them, the threads of magic that were lighter than gossamer, and stronger than chains. Demona had thought they were remnants of Fox's spell. Now she realized they were from a different enchantment altogether. Her enchantment. Her price of flesh.

Aphrodite's payment had come due.

The comfort of Elisa and Fox holding her slowly soothed Demona's sobs away to ragged hiccups, until she finally drew away. The water continued to froth, and Demona let the multitude of tiny bubbles relax away the tension in her body. She knew what she had to do to regain her strength.

"I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to break down like that." she apologized, scrubbing at her tear streaked face with the back of her hand. Demona hated being vulnerable, but she also knew how to use it. Taking another step away from Fox and Elisa, she swayed slightly, and let the darkness claim her once more. Demona slipped beneath the water before either Elisa or Fox could react. But they were beside her in the next moment, holding her up between them while she coughed and sputtered into consciousness again.

"That's it, I'm calling Owen." Fox stated as she and Elisa settled Demona in the shallower portion of the bath.

"No! I don't want him near me!" Demona's voice took a hysterical edge, "I won't see him! I won't! You can't make me!"

"Shhh...! No, of course you don't have to see him." Elisa shushed Demona's protests and gathered her into another embrace, "Tell her Fox, tell her you aren't going to call Owen."

Black eyes met blue, and slowly Fox nodded. If Demona was so dead set against Owen's help, there wasn't much they could do about it. The auburn haired woman was shivering despite the heated water, green eyes wide, and slightly feral. Sinking down beside Demona, Fox stoked the other woman's damp hair away from her face.

"I won't call Owen," Fox agreed. "But we have to do something. If you keep fainting..."

"I won't faint again." Demona spoke softly, curling against Elisa, "I still don't feel clean yet."

Fox sighed, still troubled, but went to fetch more soap and sponges. Elisa watched the sway of Fox's hips as she moved through the churning water, and thought wistfully of their earlier lovemaking. Only a night ago, it seemed a life time away. When Demona shifted in her arms, Elisa's attention was drawn again to the auburn haired woman. The awareness of their naked flesh pressing together sent a heated blush through Elisa's entire body. Demona had somehow moved so that she could return Elisa's comforting embrace, placing them together more intimately.

"You could have left me." Demona's breath was warm against Elisa's neck, "Why didn't you?"

"What do you mean?" Elisa was distracted by the gentle rub of the warm, water slick body against her own, "Left you where?"

"With Dracon's people. In the Labyrinth. Here." Demona rested her cheek against Elisa's shoulder, "Anywhere. You didn't have to rescue me, or stay with me. Why did you? It was very foolish to put yourself at risk for my sake. I've tried to kill you before. I will probably try to kill you again."

"It's what I do." Elisa shrugged, terribly conscious of the closeness of Demona's lips. Their full, lush ripeness seemed to beckon. Somehow, Demona's declared intent to try and kill her seemed less a threat, and more an invitation.

"Don't expect me to change my goals any time soon human." the gargoyle's low tone was emphatic, " I am glad to be free, but I refuse to be held to any weak notion of obligation you might have in mind."

Elisa gave a delicate snort of amusement, "Don't worry, I never expected you to be grateful. Not even for a moment."

"Good. I just wanted things to be perfectly clear." Demona breathed softly, "This has nothing to do with gratitude."

Their lips came together in a soft, tender kiss. When Demona's tongue flicked gently against the detective's lower lip, Elisa felt only a moment's hesitation before her mouth opened and allowed the kiss to deepen. It was meltingly sweet.

"Is this a private party, or can anyone join?" Fox's amused tone couldn't cover the breathlessness of her words, or the wash of emotion in the cerulean depths of her gaze.

Elisa pulled away from Demona, breath coming raggedly in her throat as she looked over at Fox with a mixture of desire and confusion.

"I... uh... " words failed the dark haired detective.

Words were not necessary, as Fox slowly closed the distance between them. Demona watched the flame haired woman's approach with a thrill of appreciation. Sleek and gleaming with the heated moisture of the bath, her skin was rose kissed perfection. As the water grew shallower with each step, the froth of bubbles receded and revealed Fox's private charms. Red gold, the small v of curls glistened between the smooth columns of her thighs.

"Don't look so shocked, it's only flesh." Elisa found her voice as she whispered into the curve of Demona's ear, noticing the mesmerized look in the other woman's green eyes.

Demona cursed the fair complexion of her human form, which so clearly betrayed her furious blush. Caught staring like some infatuated fledgeling, and by Elisa Maza no less, the gargoyle wanted to sink beneath the water's surface again and stay there. The following kiss caught Demona off guard, and she shuddered in a mixture of embarrassment and sensual pleasure. She had meant to seduce Elisa, but instead found herself being the one seduced by the detective's sweet kiss, and the gentle caresses that were becoming bolder.

"I can leave you two alone if you want me to." Fox's wistful comment gently broke through the sensual haze that claimed had the two women. She'd settled beside them, sitting in the water, soap and sponges forgotten in her hands. "Two's company but three... "

"Shut up and kiss me." Demona's voice was husky with rising passion.

Fox didn't have to be told twice. She tasted the soft, full lips with tentative care, the memory of blood not yet faded from her mind.

Elisa watched them kiss with a dreamy kind of wonder. Fox's almost shy exploration of Demona's mouth melting into a deeper, more demanding passion. Something in the back of her mind questioned the course of events, and their wisdom. But those doubts were muffled by the swelling tide of desire she felt for both Fox and Demona. Heaven help her, but she wanted them. She needed them.

Curving her body against Demona's, Elisa kissed the sensitive area at the nape of the other woman's neck, gently nipping as she moved her hands over the soft swell of a rounded breast. Slender, golden brown fingers stroked against the creamy, supple flesh while Demona moaned in the pleasure of both Fox's kisses and Elisa's sensual touch. When Elisa found the dark, ruddy buds that tipped Demona's sensitive breasts, she gently rolled them between her fingertips. Each sweet peak swelled and hardened under the exploring touch. Demona gasped as the detective gently tormented the tender flesh. Electric thrills ran through her body, starting from her now almost painfully erect nipples, and running like wild fire straight to the heated center of her hidden place.

Fox took advantage of the moment and possessed the mouth that widened beneath her kiss. She sucked on soft fullness of Demona's lips, and slid her tongue deeply into the surrendering warmth. All the sexual hunger that she had locked away through the night roared through her half fay blood like madness. When she broke away from the sweet seduction of Demona's mouth, Fox's eyes burned with blue fire. Never before had she wanted with such furious intensity. It frightened her, the savage desire that demanded satisfaction. Only force of will restrained her from descending into pure rut. Slowly, she tried to tame the urge to ravage Demona like a beast in the field. Wide green eyes watched her with apprehensive desire. Demona had seen the beast in Fox's soul, and it called to her. Wild heart to wild heart, the blood that pulsed within their hearts surged to the same beat.

It was Elisa who drew Fox back from edge of the abyss. Dark chocolate eyes warm with passion, Elisa leaned forward and took Fox's mouth in a kiss of sublime sweetness. Love for the detective grounded the inferno in Fox's soul. With a sigh of pleasure, the flame haired woman returned the kiss. The supple delight of Elisa's lips was honey and balm. When they parted, Fox felt the rising swirl of her passion was safe once more. The gentle seething of the heated water around them was relaxing, but the time for relaxation was passing. Fox returned to Demona and nuzzled up the graceful line of the other woman's throat, and spent a sweet moment licking delicately at the sensitive spot below the pink curve of the gargoyle's human ear.

"I want to take you to bed." Fox's whisper stroked through Demona like liquid heat, "Both of you. But tell me what you want."

Demona looked over at Elisa. The detective's warm eyes were dark with desire, the softness of her lips parted in a smile of agreement. She was a sweet temptation, Goliath's human mistress. All that long hair, damp and clinging like black silk against the supple curves of golden brown skin... Demona's eyes glazed over as she drank in the sight of the woman she had tried so often to destroy. A thousand years hating humanity, and right now all Demona wanted was to taste the forbidden sweetness of Elisa's flesh. She could already see the human writhing beneath her kiss, helpless in ecstasy, spread open like a succulent fruit...

Shuddering with need, Demona rose from the water and held out her hands in wordless invitation. Elisa sighed with answering want, but at Fox's piercing glance, slowly shook her head. If Demona wanted them, the gargoyle had to say it out loud.

Voice trembling, the words came.

"I want you both so much it hurts. Please... " Demona's voice dropped, barely a whisper, "don't make me beg."

Something in Elisa's soul cried out at the humbled pride in the emerald glitter of Demona's eyes. Tears yet unshed lingered, waiting for an answer. Elisa's immediate embrace set the tears free, but Fox kissed the salty dampness away.

The surface of Oberon's Mirror shimmered, and the golden blonde visage of Aphrodite faded to the silver gilt blonde of her distant kin.

"Why are you interfering?" Hel's voice held the snap of frost, and her winter blue eyes glittered with her disapproval, "Have you made some new alliance? These games will be your undoing.

"Pax, cousin. I have not yet chosen sides in your private war." Aphrodite's voice was rich with amusement, "Why should I? I am on our sacred home soil, and the groves here are heavy and ripe. I need only reach out to pluck what you strive so hard to create out of mortal dust."

Hel's lips quirked into a cool smile as she spoke, "Yet for all it's sweet fruit, I would wager I am the more fortunate for remaining here among this mortal dust rather than at court and it's age old... entertainments. Has he had you yet? Or does Titania yet command his fidelity?"

"You are fortunate that Oberon prefers those whose talents are touched with Death to be absent from Avalon, or you too might be bound by the Gathering." Aphrodite tossed her golden mane back carelessly as she spoke, "But some of us do not find service so onerous. Unlike you, I am not dead below the waist."

"And if you are so content to play the harlot, sweet and fair cousin, why did I sense your touch all over my recent... guest?" Hel's voice purred dangerously. "You are playing at intrigue, and if you are not doing it on another's behalf, then you must already be chafing at court life. It is a terrible truth that for all it's pleasures, Avalon lacks the vitality of the mortal world. Is it not passing strange irony that we find so charming the fleeting, but fierce passions found here?"

"Perhaps, " Aphrodite's shrug was a winsome shimmy of movement. "Or maybe it is only that suffering gives greater luster to that which it does not destroy. The one who invoked me was very... lustrous. A rare luscious creature, she is already a plaything of Fate and touched by mischief himself. How could I not answer once she called out to me? You should worry more about the halfling, have you still not guessed its bloodline? They say the queen has affection for her little hybrid daughter."

The narrowing in of crystal blue eyes a mirror away was all the answer the love goddess needed. Laughing, Aphrodite passed her hand over the mirror, letting it's contents waver, then resolve once more on the source of Hel's current upset. A canine growl echoed from bower where Coyote lay, as the image of his human pet sharpened, lying so passionately entwined with the half fay and the immortal gargoyle.

"Hel isn't the only one with deep plans, is she cousin?" the golden haired female murmured, settling comfortably against the trickster's warm fur to watch the unfolding love play.

It took little time, amid kisses and heated caress, to dry each other off with the fluffy towels kept close at hand. While making love right in the bath had it's appeal, when Fox had asked what Demona wanted, the female gargoyle knew where she had to have them. Almost before she could catch her breath, they were in her sleeping chamber, sprawled across the soft designer covers of the king sized bed that dominated the room. The gothic black iron work of the bed frame and head board was countered by the soft embroidered lavender bedding. The entire bedroom was washed with the soft twilight colours that the gargoyle found most soothing. Before her human transformations, Demona had never had use for a bed chamber, taking her rest in stone form. But since the change wrought by Puck's gift, this room had become a sanctuary of sorts. She'd made it beautiful here, where she could steal moments of oblivion to ease the restless ache in her heart and soul.

The memory of incense lingered in the air. Egyptian musk and sandal wood clung to the sheets, the scent mixing with the perfume of sweet, clean, aroused female flesh. Time passed in a sensual haze as they traded touches, exploring each other. It was a strangely exhilarating experience for Demona to find out which stokes would make Elisa gasp and grow wet. And it was equally pleasing to discover the special places where Fox was most sensitive by the symphony of cries she made when nipped at just the right spot. In turn, Elisa and Fox were frighteningly adept at finding what Demona liked best.

The auburn haired female had not explored the sexuality of her human body beyond the cursory caresses made by Macbeth when she'd been with him in Paris. But he'd been very much a gentleman. Demona had been willing to take advantage of that fact to keep from submitting any more of herself to him than she absolutely had to for the sake of her ruse. Kisses had seemed much the same in gargoyle or human form, and the petting she'd allowed her age old nemesis had been muffled by the clothes she'd kept between his hands and her flesh. And she had taken pains to keep it all strictly above the waist. There had been little desire to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh while human. Why should there have been, when Demona had Thailog to fill her nights and to excite her true gargoyle body?

Much as he'd been a selfish bastard of the first order, Thailog knew how to drag pleasure from the female form. It had been a game to him, as well as a tool to get his own way. How many times had he blinded her to his devious double dealings by distracting her with lust? It had taken his heartless attempt to kill Angela, the daughter Demona had claimed as her own, that had shocked her into defying her false mate. And it was only in moments after she'd made that choice that the true depth of his perfidity came clear. He'd been planning to replace Demona from the very beginning, with a female clone bred for obedience... Delilah. After Thailog's betrayal, Demona had not pursued physical pleasures in either of her forms. She'd been too focused on her vengeance to allow herself to seek sexual gratification... until now.

As Fox claimed the cherry red ripeness of Demona's lips, the gargoyle moaned at the surge of pure physical desire that washed through her. This was no gentle, exploring kiss. It was a firm, demanding plunder of Demona's soul, ruthlessly coaxing pleasure as it ravaged. Fox's hands cupped the soft swells of Demona's human breasts, and stroked the satiny skin with a delicious greed that made the gargoyle arch under the commanding touch, and offer up the swollen dusky rose nipples that ached for attention. Leaving Demona's mouth, Fox lowered her head to suck on one thick, tender button. Soft, inarticulate cries escaped from Demona's throat as soft coral lips fastened to her breast and Fox's white teeth tormented her with knowing, sweet cruelty.

The wet heat of the human's mouth on her flesh seared, and made Demona's nipple grow tight with excitement. The artful graze of of teeth and tongue sent fire licking through Demona's veins and racing straight to the hidden place where she where was melting. The mounting sensation was unlike any previous experience, senses drugged with the pleasurable torment, Demona wondered if she'd peak just from Fox's mouth on her breast. Lost in the moment, she gasped in protest when Fox pulled away to admire the moist, dark red berry that jutted out so shamelessly.

Blowing soft, cool breaths across the now extra sensitive flesh, the flame haired woman gave a low, throaty laugh as the deeply flushed bud stiffened visibly. The ruddy darkness of the nipple and the wide, soft areola were stark against the creamy paleness of Demona's breast. The fine tracery of pale blue veins beneath the extremely fair skin was a fascination to Fox, who was herself naturally pale with a red head's fine complexion. The velvet softness of Demona's human skin, it's smooth elasticity was intoxicating. Leaning in, Fox nipped the delicate skin lightly, enjoying the feel of Demona's fullness in her mouth. From the sounds the auburn haired woman was making, Demona enjoyed the attentions, so Fox decided it would only be fair to give the other breast equal consideration. As her mouth closed the other nipple, Fox heard the gargoyle's give a soft keen of pleasure, then a sob like exclamation of surprise that announced Elisa's had begun to take other matters well in hand.

Green eyes opened wide as the dark haired detective's questing mouth found the slick opening to Demona's sex, and laved open the sensitive folds with an inquisitive tongue. Broad, exploring strokes alternated with flickering oral caresses and lingering dips into the honey slicked depths. Elisa buried her face in Demona's softness, and reveled in the taste and scent of the female who'd been her adversary so many times before. Hearing the gargoyles loud, incoherent cries of helpless pleasure spurred Elisa on to greater efforts, until the quivering of hips and thighs warned of the auburn haired woman's approaching climax. But Elisa wasn't about to let the Demona find release so easily, and with a sigh of reluctance pulled away from the sweetness of the sex that glistened with it's own love juices.

Looking up, Elisa met the desire clouded emerald gaze that begged for release. She loved how Demona looked right at that moment. Auburn hair in wild disarray, face flushed, half lidded green eyes smoldering with need, ripe red mouth parted in uncontrollable pants while Fox lavished attention on the gargoyle's full, round breasts, Demona's every sobbing breath was an erotic invitation. Elisa couldn't help herself. She fell in love so hard, so completely, it hurt to breath. Like one mesmerized she could not look away from the naked desire in Demona's face. Moments of time disappeared as Elisa found herself drowning in the need to kiss the other woman until their souls merged. Before she even realized it, Elisa had captured the tender softness of Demona's mouth beneath her own.

Seeing the intensity in the dark eyes of the police woman, Demona felt a stirring she could not deny shake her soul. Pure, unadulterated love and desire swept through her senses like a storm. Even while some part of her whispered protest, pointed out that this woman she wanted so fiercely was Goliath's _human_ mistress and her avowed enemy, Demona melted into Elisa's kiss with a passionate surrender that met and matched Elisa's consuming ardor. She could taste herself on Elisa's lips and tongue, a familiar yet strange flavor that was her own humanity. Moaning in need and despair, Demona opened herself to Elisa's possession. While one of the detective's hands tangled itself in Demona's auburn mane, the other slipped down to the hidden heat beneath the small patch of auburn curls between the gargoyle's spread thighs. Long, dark and graceful fingers parted the softness, slicking themselves in the wet arousal at the mouth of Demona's sex. Elisa teased the sensitive folds and enterance with butterfly touches, drinking in the whimpers of need that built up to a torrent as Demona's hips quaked and bucked upwards seeking firmer stokes to push herself over the edge. But no matter how the auburn haired woman writhed, Elisa denied her, building up the erotic stimulation with tortuous slowness.

Fox's hand found Elisa's, and dark chocolate eyes slitted open to meet a wicked cerulean blue gaze. As Elisa moved her flickering, teasing touch to the sensitive pearl of flesh that peeked from it's protective hood, Fox's slid a testing fingertip into Demona's tight sheath. The gargoyle's hips jerked violently under the double assault, and the dark haired detective kissed Demona more deeply. Fox also pressed deeper until reaching a slight resistance that puzzled her. Slowly the significance dawned on the flame haired woman. Demona's human form still had it's hymen. Puck had given the gargoyle a human form that was in cherry condition. Virgin.

Withdrawing, Fox considered the implications. While the gargoyle had lost her virginity long ago, and was the mother to a grown daughter, Demona's new human form had never experienced full penetration. Fox wondered if this was an example of Puck's infamous sense of humor. In any case, it changed things. How much she did not know yet, but enough. Pushing herself up, Fox leaned close to the delicate curve of Elisa's ear and whispered her discovery. The police woman's chocolate brown eyes flew open in surprise, and her hand slipped from it's erotic teasing to verify the astonishing revelation. Demona's whimper of arousal at Elisa's intimate probe filled the detective's mouth, but emerald green eyes fluttered open at the new feeling of discomfort mixed into the mounting pleasure. As Elisa reluctantly pulled away from the passionate heat of Demona's mouth, questions escaped the half dazed gargoyle.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Not wrong," Fox's voice was slightly breathy from her restrained excitement, "Just... unexpected. You haven't fully explored everything about your human body yet, have you?"

"What do you mean? Isn't everything where it's supposed to be?" Alarm flared through Demona as she wondered what liberties Puck might have taken when giving her a human body.

Seeing her distress, Fox reached out reassure the gargoyle with an embrace and a laugh, "Everything is exactly where it's supposed to be. Including... well there is no other word for it, your virginity."

"My **_what_**?!" Demona's voice held no trace of amusement. In fact the glare in her emerald eyes was caustic enough to strip paint, "I may be many things, Fox Renard Xanatos, but a virgin is not one of them!"

"It's true."

Elisa's serious pronouncement brought another heated protest to Demona's lips, but it died under the calm candor of the police woman's dark gaze. That and the renewed pressure of the dark haired woman's fingertip against the barrier in question. The slight movement drew an aroused moan from the incredulous gargoyle. Her eyes fluttered shut as Elisa continued to rub in and out of the gargoyle's tightness with shallow, sensuous strokes. This just wasn't possible, Demona's mind reeled under this new revelation even as her body cried out for fulfillment. She had lost her virginity a millennia ago, and thankfully the long years had dimmed the memory of it's passing to a vague recollection of discomfort. To have to go through it all a second time just wasn't fair.

"You'll have to make some choices." Fox's breath was warm against Demona's ear, the soft caress of the flame haired woman's lips played against the gargoyles skin.

"Choices?" Demona's voice was distracted as Elisa's intimate touch continued to keep her on the edge of arousal, "What choices?"

"To stop. Or to continue." Fox's voice was calm and considering, but her hands were stroking the fullness of Demona's breasts, fingertips continuing to tease the red flushed, hardened nipples. "You have that choice. Now that you have this new factor to consider..."

"No!" Demona's sharp exclamation froze Elisa and Fox in place, each holding her breath until the gargoyle made her decision clear, "Stopping is not an option. I am _not_ a virgin, physical evidence to the contrary. We'll just get rid of it. This false virginity that is. It might be a little messy, but once it's over we can forget about it...

Demona's words were cut off by Fox's demanding lips. After a long moment, a thoroughly kissed gargoyle came up for air once more, blinking slowly as her ability to think came back online. Panting slightly, she lay between Fox and Elisa, becoming aware of the intensity of their regard.

"So which one?" Fox asked, gently tugging on one of Demona's long auburn locks.

"Which one what?" Demona asked, feeling suddenly uneasy, and oddly shy.

"Which one of us do you want to do the deed?" Fox's heated gaze matched the throaty purr in her voice. "Take your cherry. De-virginize you."

Demona had considered the unexpected physical barrier inside herself to be an annoyance, but the hungry look on Fox's face sent an electric thrill chasing through the gargoyle's blood. Elisa had an unreadable, smoky look in her dark eyes, but the renewed stroking which wrecked delicious havoc on Demona's senses sent the message that the good detective wouldn't mind being the one to do the deflowering. Perhaps, the gargoyle thought, the event wouldn't be as awkward as she imagined. After all, none of them were untried youths with naught but raw instinct and a mish mash of hatchling misinformation to guide them. Demona shivered as she realized the taking of virginity, even one owed to a fay prankster, held some sort of special significance to humans.

To these humans. Elisa or Fox.

The auburn haired woman looked first into the clear cerulean of Fox's eyes, and saw again the furiously wild passion which called out to Demona's own untamed spirit. The sweet liquid ache between her thighs intensified at the thought of the flame haired mercenary taking her with savage abandon. The pain and the pleasure would be mingled in each glorious strike. Heart hammering in her breast, frightened by the pure intensity of her own desire, Demona turned from Fox's entrancing blue gaze to the enticing warmth of Elisa's dark eyes.

Demona went still, drawn down into their mysterious depths. How many times had she tried to kill this woman? With weapons, poison, spell, even her bare hands... and still she lived, Goliath's little human friend. All the centuries, all the passion Demona had devoted to wiping the humans from the face of the planet, and this one woman still managed to thwart her, distract her... become her obsession. Demona had never wanted anyone as much as she wanted the raven haired beauty...

Pulse racing, Demona made her choice, knowing it was sheer madness. "Elisa. I choose Elisa."

Disappointment flickered in Fox's eyes, but she accepted the pronouncement gracefully. Elisa would have the honor, but they would both reap their fair share of pleasure before the day was done. Now the only question left was how the detective would accomplish the special task before her.

"Demona, " Fox's caressing whisper sent a sensual shiver through the auburn haired woman, "Elisa will need something for penetration. Do you have anything... suitable?"

Again the gargoyle's fair human complexion betrayed her, a deep rosy flush revealed her confusion of excited, yet embarrassed emotions. Momentarily unable to speak, Demona pointed to what appeared to be a wardrobe across the room. Slipping off the bed, Fox padded over to the indicated piece of furniture and pulled open the ornately carved wooden doors. Inside was a collection of expensive power clothes, clothes that the owner and CEO of a wealthy and influential multi-national company would wear. The flame haired, former actress ran an professional eye over the selection and determined that as Dominique Destine, Demona had exquisite taste... but a rather restricted sense of fashion. The high quality was unquestionable, but these were all work clothes. There were no _play_ clothes at all. And glancing back at the bare and blush stained beauty lying across the bed, Fox knew that this lack was a crying shame.

"In back. There should be a chest." Demona's voice went slightly breathless as Elisa proceeded to do things to the gargoyle's body that made her senses reel.

Fox found the chest in the deep recesses of the wardrobe, and felt a chill of familiarity as she pulled it out. It was fairly large, and when she unlatched it and lifted up the lid, the red velvet tiered interior came as no surprise. It was exactly liked the one in her bedroom at the castle. The contents were similar as well, down to the specially ordered, handcrafted toys that could only come from the same dealers in exotic, erotic implements that David liked to patronize. Slowly running a hand over polished wood and supple leather, Fox closed her eyes and reached down to trace the engraved initials she knew would be on the riding crop. A. T. The one in chest at home had the initials D. X. for David Xanatos. The one who had this chest made had copied David's style down to the last detail. Fox wondered what else her husband had imprinted Thailog with besides his taste in expensive sex toys. She'd never gotten to meet David's experiment gone rogue...

A whimper from the auburn haired woman on the bed pushed thoughts of Goliath's clone from Fox's mind. Elisa hadn't wasted any time while being left alone on the bed with Demona. While the police woman hadn't said anything since being chosen to take the gargoyle's human virginity, she let her mouth and hands speak eloquently in other ways. A smile ghosted over Fox's lips as the dark haired detective continued to keep Demona on the beautiful edge of arousal without letting her slip over. Elisa was taking no chances with letting the hot blooded gargoyle cool down. Fox reached into the selection of erotic playthings with a practiced hand, and took out the perfect tool for deflowering Demona, and give Elisa a new experience as well.

Returning to the bed, Fox admired the contrast of Elisa's rich golden brown complexion against Demona's rose kissed fairness. The police woman had pushed the gargoyle back onto the bed. Dark auburn hair spilled over the rumpled, pale lavender bedding as Demona arched underneath the detective's mouth, which tasted and explored the sweetly luscious breasts that Fox had recently feasted on. Demona cried out and her hands tightened in the raven silk of Elisa's hair as the police woman's hand continued to stroke beneath the soft dusting of auburn curls between creamy, trembling thighs. Warm, erotic appreciation swept over Fox, sweeping away the last traces of her envy, filling her with sensual anticipation of what was to come.

The supple leather straps of the harness slid through Fox's hands as she set about adjusting the buckles to fit Elisa. The dark haired woman lifted her head and glanced back in momentary surprise as Fox began to ease open the pouting lips of the detective's sex. Fox teased the tight, warm wetness of Elisa's sheath, making sure the detective would be able to comfortably take in the first part of the special harness. The golden orbs of Elisa's nether cheeks quivered slightly as the flame haired woman carefully pressed a firm, yet flexible shaft into the police woman's sex, then proceeded to buckle on harness that held it in place. Besides filling Elisa with a distracting, but pleasant fullness, the harness also supported a rather prominent attachment in front. The sleek texture of the protruding artificial phallus was almost silky to the touch. Fox gave the toy a last affectionate stoke and moved away to let the police detective to explore her new equipment.

Elisa swiveled her hips, feeling the how the movement affected the new stiffness that pressed within her, and watched the dildo that jutted between her smooth, golden thighs move with her. The detective's dark chocolate eyes were wide with the newness of the sensations that rippled through her toned, lithe body.. This was different. Not unpleasant, far from that, but still an exotic experience for the police woman who'd previously considered herself rather conventional. Fox was introducing her strange, new worlds, and Elisa was not yet sure of all the changes. But then Demona regained dark haired woman attention with a desperately passionate kiss. Any whispers of doubt fled Elisa's mind as she returned the heated press of lips with the warm moist caress of an eager, exploring tongue. The simmering desire that she had stroked to a white hot inferno was burning captive through the auburn haired woman beneath her. It was time to set that fire free.

"Spread yourself open for me." Elisa's throaty command sent a thrill pure animal need through Demona.

Helpless in her arousal, Demona obeyed, lifting and parting the smooth, flushed, creamy flesh of her thighs. Her color mounting, she reached down to part the pouting lips of her sex, revealing her most intimate self to Elisa's appreciative gaze. Deeply pink and glistening with her natural slickness, the brazenly exposed enterance to Demona's human sex sent an incredibly erotic jolt through the dark haired detective. Elisa felt her mouth go dry, the tip of her tongue unconsciously seeking to moisten her lips as she drank in the sight of Demona's luscious offering. The secret press of the rod inside her own moist heat made her inner muscles contract as Elisa's arousal increased. One golden brown hand fell to the phallic shaft that would press into Demona's softness, and Elisa sighed in anticipation. There was only one thing that caused her to hesitate.

"Fox...?" Elisa cast a glance to the flame haired woman who leaned against the bed, watching with half lidded blue eyes dark with passion.

"It's you she wants right now. Don't worry about me, I'm happy to wait until you both are ready for me to join in. Take her. There will be plenty left afterwards. I promise."

Fox's sultry encouragement was all the dark haired detective needed to poise herself over Demona's inviting warmth. Reaching out, Elisa stroked the gleaming wetness, coating her fingers with the clear honey of the other woman's arousal. As the pad of her thumb pressed over the sensitive pearl of Demona's clit, Elisa shivered with sexual excitement at the sound of the gargoyle's soft keen of need. Bringing her hand back to the stiff rod held securely by the harness, Elisa spread the slick wetness over the artificial phallus. The motion sent a thrill through the detective as the pressure inside her sex shifted. Lips parted, Elisa met Demona's wide emerald stare and slowly pressed forward, guiding the shaft with her hand until the tip of the rod nestled at the ready enterance, prepared for the first firm stroke. Leaning down, Elisa kissed Demona's trembling lips, letting her tongue stroke open the sweetness of the auburn haired woman's mouth. Their tongues slid together in mutual hunger. As the kiss reached it's deepest point, Elisa hips thrust forward in a single, smooth, relentless advance.

Demona accepted the deep thrust with an involuntary tremor as the walls of her tight channel were forced to yield to the sweet, ruthless invasion. Her keen of need deepened into a wail of ecstasy even as Elisa pressed deeper, piercing through the barrier to lodge fully into Demona's virgin human sheath. The pain flared briefly within the pleasure, causing the auburn haired woman to buck madly as the crashing wave of her first human orgasm engulfed her. Elisa's kiss drank in every cry of pain and ecstasy as she rode out the pleasure ravished gargoyle's fierce explosion.

As Demona's movements began to calm, her trembling body becoming softly pliant beneath the detective golden one, Elisa slowly withdrew from their kiss, giving the auburn haired beauty whose warm naked body lay pressed beneath her own a lingering look. Green eyes dazed with sexual pleasure, mouth red and kiss swollen... Elisa was filled with a sweet ache of adoration. Running her hands over the creamy beauty of Demona's silky human skin, the dark haired detective loved the way her new lover shuddered with sensual shock under her possessive touch. Elisa wanted to take her to even greater heights of pleasure, take her so high the sun would grant them wings of fire. When the emerald eyes were clear and coherent once more, Elisa began a slow, steady rocking, hips undulating with each firm thrust. Delighting in each gasping sob of pleasure, Elisa began to fuck Demona in earnest.

Demona's eyes fluttered shut as the intense sensation of being thoroughly taken stole her reason away once more. Her hands grabbed at the bed covers, cloth bunching in her twisting grasp. Back arching, her hips rose to meet Elisa's steady thrusts. The detective's hands were hot as brands against her skin, stroking and caressing, adding to the pleasure of the sweet rut. Demona's legs wrapped around the golden smoothness of Elisa's flared hips, slender ankles hooking behind, following the rise and fall of the detective's firm round bottom, encouraging harder, faster strokes. Each sliding movement sent hot chills racing through Demona's entire body, the increasing speed and force pushing her to another moment of exploding bliss. Blindly she reached out to pull Elisa's into another fierce kiss as the shuddering waves of pleasure overwhelmed her. Hands tangling in the raven silk of Elisa's hair, Demona sobbed her release into the wet heat of the detective's waiting mouth.

Through the heated daze of her own mounting sexual pleasure, Elisa was intensely aware of Demona's quaking surrender to orgasm. Continuing to pump with greater ferocity, Elisa could hear her own loud moans echoing through the bed chamber. They mingled with the panting whimpers of the sweat dampened woman thrashing beneath her. The sounds and scent of sex flooded the dark haired detective's senses, until she felt the room dissolve. A deep, full body flush gave her normally golden brown skin the hue of copper as the detective's own climax over took her. The dark haired detective collapsed against the pliant heat of the auburn haired beauty's now limply relaxed body. For long moments they shared lingering kisses, luxuriating in the delicious heat of afterglow.

Owen Burnett watched the gradual darkening horizon from his office in the Eyrie Building. The mix of scarlet and rose kissed clouds with the blue lavender of the evening sky heralded the coming of nightfall. Soon the massive figures on the castle walls would rise and stretch, shedding the thin veneer of stone skin that was the only reminder of their day time stone state. All too soon for Owen's taste. Xanatos had left him to explain to Goliath why there was still no word yet of the women they had searched the day for.

The shadow of wings against the skyline drew the blonde man's startled attention. It was still several minutes until sunset, who... ? As the feline features of the approaching form became apparent, Owen relaxed. One of the mutates. The female from the tawny gold fur that gleamed in the last light of the day. Maggie.

Owen left his office with quiet dignity, but his step was no less quick for his stoic air of calm. If the mutate had word of Fox and Elisa, Owen hoped it was good news. The fierce rage the gargoyles were capable of would be daunting, to say the least, if something had happened to Detective Maza. And if anything had happened to Fox... He did not know whose rage and despair frightened him more, Xanatos, or his Queen. Woe betide the human world if Titania's daughter had come to mortal harm...

Fox moaned softly as she withdrew her hand from between her own thighs. She'd brought herself to the peak of pleasure while watching Elisa melt into her first orgasm while riding the cradle of Demona's own shuddering climax. It had been beautiful. Fox wished she could have captured the moment on something more permanent than memory. The delightful way Demona's face had flushed, scrunched up as Elisa had pierced her second virginity, the intense quiver that had run through her entire body during the explosion of her first human orgasm. Then Elisa's nice slow fuck graduating into a fierce rut until both she and Demona dissolved into mutual, shattering orgasms. A flood of wet heat made Fox whimper as aftershocks from her own self pleasuring began to build into renewed arousal.

Torn between watching and and wanting to join the two women tangled together intimately across the bed, Fox shivered with her need. Sweet mercy... what was happening to her? First her insatiable hunger with David, then her unexpected affair with Elisa Maza, not to mention the _other_ events of the night she desperately wanted to forget... And now she was aching with nearly desperate need for both Elisa... and Demona. Fox wondered if she had gone mad with lust, or was just simply... mad.

Did it matter?

Fox looked at the unbearably lovely tableau of entwined golden and rose cream limbs, and decided she didn't care.

As if hearing Fox's thoughts, Elisa raised her head from Demona's intoxicating kiss to give the flame haired woman a heavy lidded look of invitation.

"Fox..."

And before she could say more, Fox was kissing the dark haired detective with all the passion of her heart. When Demona ran a caressing hand along Fox's cheek, the flame haired woman shivered as pleasure quivered through her like sound through a plucked harpstring. Her mouth went from Elisa's to Demona's in the same breath, drinking in pure mutual desire...

Though his well groomed appearance and expensive attire marked him as an outsider, the darkly handsome man stalked through the squalid, riff raff populated alley with the confidence of a born predator. A few of the bolder loiterers eyed the sleek, dangerous line of his form speculatively. But the cold, banked fury in the black eyes warned them off. Only the desperate and the foolish would take this dark prince for a mark. Besides, he was headed for a place few sane people went willingly. Only the mad, the bad, and the dangerous to know had business in Tartarus.

As the saturnine faced man entered the dimly lit bar a grimace of distaste flickered over his face before his expression became hard as granite. The place was aptly named after the lowest region of the underworld. A little slice of hell away from hell. Or more accurately, Hel. She sat at the table in the farthest corner of the room, a slash of pure white against the miasma of grime and crime that filled the bar like dirty fetid smoke.

Despite her pale, fragile seeming beauty, no one bothered her. She sat alone despite the cramped quarters that crowded the otherwise well filled room. At her nod, a pathway through the wall of villainous humanity opened before the newcomer.

Approaching with the sleek glide of a hunting panther, Xanatos closed the distance between himself and the waiting woman in the space of heart beats.

"You lost my wife?" his voice was a controlled growl of threat.

"There were... complications." Hel's icy reply did not bode well for her no longer silent partner, "But do not worry. She is perfectly safe..." The smallest smile quirked her pale lips before she added, "...with her lover."

**********  
Ends Book One of the Immortal Blood Series  
To be Continued in Book Two  
The Avatar Wars


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